UC-NRLF 


sifi 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


QLIMP8E8 


cf 


tDonderful 


If  nfiSg^SSi^u'b !;  F7 


FRONTISPIKCE. GLANCE  AT  CHINA. 


••.',W<iL.      ' 


WILEY   &    PUTNAM 

161    BROADWAY. 


CONTENTS. 


PAQE. 

A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA           .             .             .             .  .5 

BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX      .             .             .  14 

THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF         .             .             .             .  .33 

THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT      ...  40 

THE  EARTHQUAKE  AT  LISBON          .             .             .  .52 

THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA             ...             .  56 

THE  SEASONS         .            *            *  ;         .             .  .63 

THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA            ...             .             .  73 

THE  DIAMOND        .             t            y            .             .  .82 

LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT  ....  88 
STAFFA,  AND  FINGAL'S  CAVE  ....  100 
THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY  .  .  .  .103 

THE  LAND'S  END,  AND  THE  CORNISH  WRECKERS      .  .     107 

PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE        ..             .            .  116 

THE  AFRICAN  KING  126 


OH 


4  CONTENTS. 

PAGI 

COMPARATIVE  SIZE  AND  FORMATION  OF  ANIMALS  .            130 

THE  MANDAN  INDIANS        .             .             .  .             .139 

A  WARROW  VILLAGE — GUIANA           .             .  .             150 

PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP           .             .             .  .             .152 

THE  RIVER  THAMES                .             ."        *  V'  ^  .             159 

THE  EAGLE            .             .             .  .             .163 

AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO          .            .  «            168 


GLIMPSES  OF  THE  WONDERFUL. 


A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA. 

• 

THE  Macedonian  king,  when  he  had  reached  the  banks  of 
the  Indus,  wept  like  a  spoiled  child  at  the  belief  that  he 
should  soon  have  no  more  worlds  to  conquer.  He  knew 
not  that  far  beyond  the  Ganges,  whose  sacred  stream  he 
never  visited,  was  a  vast  region,  more  populous,  more 
civilized,  and  more  wealthy  than  any  of  those  which  his 
armies,  in  their  rapid  march  from  the  Hellespont,  eastward, 
to  the  swift  Hydaspes,  had  overrun.  Two  hundred  years 
before  the  era  of  Alexander  the  Great  flourished  Coon-foo- 
tse,  or,  as  he  is  known  to  Europeans,  Confucius,  the  sage 
and  lawgiver  of  China,  and  the  contemporary  of  Herodotus, 
the  father  of  Grecian  history.  And  for  centuries  before 
the  time  of  Confucius  had  the  Chinese  empire  existed; 
counting  far  back  her  rulers  and  her  dynasties,  till  the 
truth  of  history  was  lost  in  a  mist  of  mytholgical  ex- 


A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA. 

aggeration,  which  absurdly  claims  for  the  "  Celestial  Em- 
pire"— as  the  Chinese  fondly  term  their  country — a  date 
some  centuries  previous  to  the  time  fixed  by  Moses  for 
the  creation  of  man.  This,  however,  the  more  enlightened 
among  themselves  are  content  to  consider  fabulous. 

The  simple  truth  is  sufficiently  wonderful  without  re- 
sorting to  fable  ;  for  strange  indeed  it  is  that  a  mighty 
empire  should  have  flourished,  whose  very  name  was  for 
centuries  a  mystery  to  the  nations  of  the  West,  and  whose 
existence  was  sometimes  treated  as  a  chimera. 

For  more  than  twenty  centuries  China  appears  to  have 
attained  nearly  the  same  degree  of  civilization  and  ad- 
vancement in  arts,  sciences,  and  government  which  now 
so  favorably  distinguish  it  from  other  Asiatic  nations ; 
and  there  it  appears  to  have  been  nearly  stationary. 
While  the  "  outside  barbarians"  of  the  West  have  been 
struggling,  century  after  century,  out  of  the  darkness  and 
ignorance  and  brutality  of  their  forefathers,  the  Chinese, 
content  with  the  wisdom,  the  discoveries,  and  the  pre- 
cepts that  so  justly  distinguished  the  remote  antiquity  of 
their  empire,  have  hitherto  shared  but  little  in  the  mighty 
changes,  whether  for  good  or  evil,  which  have  passed  over 
the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  doctrines  of  Christianity  made  but  little  progress 


A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA.  7 

amid  the  millions  of  the  Celestial  empire  ;  the  Jesuits  be- 
ing for  a  long  period  the  only  possessors  of  the  Christian 
religion  that  obtained  an  entrance,  and  they  were  admitted, 
not  as  teachers  of  another  faith,  but  as  astronomers,  astro- 
logers, and  mathematicians.  Mahomet  appeared  upon  the 
scene,  and  shook  the  thrones  of  half  the  known  world. 
The  faith  he  preached  spread  from  Arabia,  and  overflowed 
all  lands,  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  in  the  West  to 
Central  Asia  in  the  East ;  triumphing  alike  over  the  dead 
and  corrupted  forms  of  superstition,  that  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury usurped  the  name  of  Christianity — over  the  tenets  of 
Zoroaster,  which  still  lingered  amid  the  fire- worshippers 
of  Persia — over  Bramah  and  the  subject  idols  of  Hindostan. 
But  while  thrones  and  religions  thus  fell  before  the  sword 
of  Islam,  the  doctrines  of  Confucius  retained  their  sway 
undisturbed  throughout  the  extent  of  China. 

The  Tartars  of  Central  Asia,  they  whose  kindred  at 
different  periods  and  under  different  names  have  ravaged 
the  most  fertile  and  populous  regions  of  Europe  and  Asia, 
have  twice  invaded  China,  and  seated  a  Tartar  dynasty 
upon  the  throne  of  Pekin ;  and  the  present  Emperor  of 
China  is  the  sixth  descendant  of  the  Manchou  Tartar  chief 
who  conquered  China  in  1643.  But  though  a  Tartar  race 
may  rule,  China  and  the  Chinese  remain  essentially  un- 


8  A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA. 

changed  ;  the  religion,  the  manners,  the  very  name  even  of 
the  conquerors  is  absorbed  and  all  but  lost  in  those  of  the 
conquered  :  the  Tartar  becomes  Chinese ;  and  while  the 
un warlike  nature  and  peaceable  and  industrious  habits  of 
this  remarkable  people  appear  to  render  them  an  easy 
prey  to  the  brute  force  of  a  handful  of  invaders,  their 
immense  numbers,  the  general  diffusion  of  education 
among  them,  the  profound  reverence  and  attachment  to 
the  laws,  language,  and  customs  of  their  ancestors — fos- 
tered from  earliest  infancy — these  and  other  causes  ensure 
their  essential  independence  as  a  nation,  and  enable  them 
to  retain,  by  a  species  of  passive  resistance  and  conserva- 
tive inertia,  all  their  national  characteristics  unchanged 
through  the  lapse  of  ages. 

Lord  Brougham,  in  his  striking  way,  has  summed  up 
the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  character  and  history 
of  the  Chinese.  "  A  territory  of  enormous  extent,  stretch- 
ing 1400  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  as  many  from  north 
to  south — peopled  by  above  three  hundred  millions  of 
persons,  all  living  under  one  sovereign — preserving  their 
customs  for  a  period  far  beyond  the  beginning  of  authentic 
history  elsewhere — civilized  when  Europe  was  sunk  in 
barbarism — possessed,  many  centuries  before  ourselves,  of 
the  arts  which  we  deem  the  principal  triumphs  of  civiliza- 


A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA.  9 

tion,  and  even  yet  not  equalled  by  the  industry  and  enter- 
prise of  the  West  in  the  prodigious  extent  of  their  public 
works — with  a  huge  wall  1500  miles  in  length,  built  2000 
years  ago,  and  a  canal  of  700,  four  centuries  before  any 
canal  had  ever  been  known  in  Europe, — the  sight  of  such 
a  country  and  such  a  nation  is  mightily  calculated  to  fix 
the  attention  of  the  most  careless  observer,  and  to  warm 
the  fancy  of  the  most  indifferent.  But  there  are  yet  more 
things  unfolded  in  the  same  quarter  to  the  eye  of  the  politi- 
cal philosopher. 

"  All  this  vast  empire  under  a  single  head ;  its  countless 
myriads  of  people  yielding  an  obedience  so  regular  and  so 
mechanical,  that  the  government  is  exercised  as  if  the 
control  were  over  animals  or  masses  of  inert  matter  ;  the 
military  force  at  the  ruler's  disposal  so  insignificant,  that 
the  mere  physical  pressure  of  the  crowd  must  instantly 
destroy  it  were  the  least  resistance  attempted : — the  people 
all  this  while,  not  only  not  plunged  in  rude  ignorance,  but 
more  generally  possessed  of  knowledge,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, and  more  highly  prizing  it  than  any  other  nation  in 
the  world : — the  institutions  of  the  country  established  for 
much  above  five-and-twenty  centuries,  and  never  changing 
or  varying  (in  principle  at  least)  during  that  vast  period 
of  time : — the  inhabitants,  with  all  their  refinement  and 


10  A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA. 

the  early  progress  in  knowledge  and  in  the  arts,  never 
passing  a  certain  low  point,  so  that  they  exhibit  the  only 
instance  in  the  history  of  our  species  of  improvement 
being  permanently  arrested  in  its  progress  : — the  resources 
of  this  civilized  state  incalculable,  yet  not  able  to  prevent 
two  complete  conquests  by  a  horde  of  barbarians,  and  to 
chastise  the  piracies  of  a  neighboring  island,  (Japan,)  or 
to  subdue  a  petty  tribe,  (Meaoutse,)  existing,  troublesome 
and  independent,  in  the  centre  of  a  monarchy,  which 
seems  as  if  it  could  crush  them  by  a  single  movement  of 
its  body : — the  police  of  the  state,  all-powerful  in  certain 
directions,  and  in  others  so  weak  as  to  habitually  give  way 
for  fear  of  being  defeated  :  the  policy  of  the  state  an  un- 
exampled mixture  of  wisdom  and  folly,  profound  views 
and  superficial  errors : — patronage  of  arts  and  sciences, 
combined  with  prohibition  of  foreign  improvements : — en- 
couragement of  domestic  industry,  with  exclusion  of  in- 
ternal commerce : — promotion  of  inland  manufacture  and 
trade,  without  employing  the  precious  metals  as  a  medium 
of  exchange  : — suffering  perpetually  from  the  population 
encroaching  upon  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  yet  sys- 
tematically stimulating  the  increase  of  its  numbers ;  re- 
moving every  check  which  might  mitigate  the  evil,  and 
closing  every  outlet  for  the  redundancy." 


A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA.  11 

There  seems  good  reason  to  believe,  that  the  great  jeal- 
ousy of  intercourse  with  foreigners,  which  the  rulers  of 
China  have  for  so  many  years  exhibited  in  so  remarkable 
a  manner,  arose  mainly  from  the  fears  of  the  Tartar 
rulers,  lest  their  people,  by  acquaintance  with  other  na- 
tions, should  acquire  inclination  or  power  to  throw  off 
their  foreign  yoke ;  and  that  the  vexatious  and  insulting 
obstructions  to  commerce,  so  long  persisted  in,  were 
scarcely  more  obnoxious  to  us  than  to  the  wishes  and 
habits  of  the  Chinese  people,  although  their  love  of  order 
and  reverence  for  the  authority  of  their  rulers  checked 
any  exhibition  of  this  feeling  on  their  part. 

If  this  be  the  case,  we  may  indulge  a  not  unreasonable 
hope  that  the  war,  so  recently  waged  by  England  against 
China,  contemptible,  not  to  say  disgraceful,  as  it  was  in 
its  origin,  may,  in  its  consequences,  be  beneficial  to  the 
Chinese,  as  well  as  to  other  nations. 

Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  (who  negotiated  on  the  part  of 
England  the  treaty  of  Nanking  which  was  concluded  in 
1843,)  with  wise  and  liberal  policy,  stipulated  for  no  ex- 
clusive privilege  to  England,  but  included  other  nations  in 
its  provisions  for  free  commercial  intercourse.  Sir  Henry 
speaks  most  highly  of  the  ability  and  uprightness  of  some 
of  the  Chinese  Mandarins,  who  conferred  with  him  upon 


12  A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA. 

the  provisions  of  the  treaty ;  and  the  esteem  appears  to 
have  been  mutual,  and  to  have  ripened  into  friendship. 

The  Chinese,  astonished  that  an  island  of  inconsidera- 
ble size  could  exhibit,  at  such  an  immense  distance  from 
home,  power  and  resources  sufficient  to  baffle  all  the 
efforts  of  their  own  great  empire,  in  the  very  centre  of  its 
dominions,  have  lost  much  of  that  overweening  self- 
conceit  which  made  them  affect  to  treat  all  visitors  as 
tributaries  and  subjects,  and  therefore  as  objects  of  con- 
tempt and  insult.  The  English,  as  their  acquaintance 
with  the  language  and  customs  of  this  singular  people  in- 
creases, appear  to  find  more  and  more  to  respect  and  to 
admire,  and  less  to  ridicule  ;  and  let  us  hope  that,  by  the 
mutual  exercise  of  forbearance  and  confidence,  the  newly 
cemented  friendship  between  England  and  China  may 
continue  undisturbed  by  oppression  on  one  part,  and  by  ill 
faith  on  the  other. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  afford  a  few  general "  Glimp- 
ses of  the  Wonderful"  in  this  great  portion  of  the  human 
family ;  for  seeing  that  so  many  works,  of  easy  access  for 
all  readers,  have  recently  appeared,  containing  descrip- 
tions of  China  in  every  aspect,  it  seemed  needless  to 
repeat  the  process  here.  Every  reader,  young  and  old, 
is  by  this  time  familiar  with  the  quaint,  unwieldy  forms 


A  GLANCE  AT  CHINA.  13 

of  Chinese  junks,  with  their  high,  overhanging  sterns, 
their  bamboo  sails,  and  ornaments  of  paint  and  gilding  ; — 
the  nine-storied  pagodas,  with  their  porcelain  roofs, 
peaked,  and  ornamented  with  bells  and  flags,  are  known 
to  us  all  from  the  days  of  childhood,  when  we  admired  the 
blue  pictures  on  our  plates,  beneath  the  meat  and  pudding ; 
and  there  too,  and  in  many  a  pictured  page  of  greater 
pretensions,  we  have  become  familiar  with  Chinese 
bridges,  fish-ponds,  and  pleasure-houses,  and  the  never- 
absent  willow — the  doll-like  lady,  with  her  pinched  and 
stunted  feet,  and  the  fat  Mandarin,  with  his  long  tail. 
The  Chinese  Exhibition,  too,  has  shown  to  thousands  of 
delighted  visitors  the  manners  and  productions  of  the 
empire  in  yet  more  vivid  reality.  And  as  to  the  Great 
Northern  Wall,  one  of  the  "  wonders  of  the  world,"  be  they 
limited  to  seven,  or  extended  to  a  hundred,  it  is  familiar 
to  every  young  student  of  geography  ;  and  so  we  need  not 
enlarge  upon  it  here,  but  will  take  our  flight  to  other 
scenes  in  search  of  other  wonders. 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

FOR  the  last  three  hundred  years,  attempts  have  been 
made  by  navigators  of  different  European  nations  to  find 
a  northern  passage  to  India  and  China,  and  the  other  rich 
countries  and  islands  of  eastern  Asia,  and  thus  to  avoid 
the  long  voyages  round  the  southern  extremities  of  Africa 
or  South  America.  There  is  hardly  a  doubt  that  such 
a  passage  exists,  both  in  a  western  and  in  an  eastern  di- 
rection ;  the  one  along  the  northern  shore  of  Asia,  the 
other  through  Baffin's  Bay,  and  between  the  islands  that 
are  clustered  along  the  Arctic  shore  of  North  America. 
But  it  is  almost  equally  certain  that,  even  should  some 
fortunate  voyager  be  able,  in  some  very  mild  season,  to 
force  his  way  by  either  channel,  the  discovery  will  be  of 
little  practical  utility  for  merchant- vessels,  until  the  cli- 
mate of  that  part  of  the  globe  materially  alters.  It  is  only 
during  unusually  mild  years  that  the  snow  ever  disappears 
from  the  land,  or  the  ice  from  the  sea,  even  in  the  height 
of  summer  ;  and  this  is  only  for  a  very  few  weeks,  or  even 


ESQUIMAUX. 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  15 

days,  and  then  again  all  is  buried  in  adamantine  chains 
for  nine  or  ten  weary  months. 

The  last  attempt  to  discover  the  long-sought  northwest 
passage  was  made  in  1829,  by  Captain  Ross.  Aided  by  Sir 
Felix  Booth,  a  wealthy  London  merchant,  he  fitted  out  a 
steam  vessel,  called  the  Victory,  with  every  requisite  for  a 
polar  voyage.  After  some  delays  and  disappointments, 
chiefly  from  the  defective  state  of  the  boiler  and  other  parts 
of  the  steam-engine,  the  captain  reached  Baffin's  Bay,  vis- 
ited the  Danish  settlement  of  Helsteinberg,  on  the  coast  of 
Greenland,  and  entered  Lancaster's  Sound.  He  sailed  down 
Prince  Regent's  Inlet,  to  the  spot  where  Captain  Parry's 
ship,  the  Fury,  had  been  wrecked  four  years  before.  Her 
crew  had  returned  to  England  in  the  Hecla,  and  as  this 
vessel  could  not  contain  all  her  stores,  they  were  neces- 
sarily abandoned,  after  having  been  piled  on  the  beach  in 
regular  order.  Captain  Ross  had  obtained  permission 
from  government  to  make  use  of  them,  and  he  was  not 
disappointed  in  his  calculation  of  finding  that  they  had 
sustained  no  material  injury.  When  he  landed  on  the 
beach,  with  three  of  his  officers,  he  found  only  one  tent 
left  entire.  This  had  been  the  mess-tent  of  the  Fury's 
officers,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  bears  and  foxes  had 
paid  it  frequent  visits.  However,  the  preserved  meats  and 


16  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

vegetables  were  effectually  protected  from  the  sharp  noses 
and  strong  jaws  of  these  hungry  visitors  by  the  strongly- 
soldered  tin  canisters  ;  and  though  the  two  heaps  had 
been  exposed  to  all  weathers,  they  had  not  suffered  in  the 
slightest  degree  : — one  hot  summer's  day  in  a  milder 
region  would  have  done  more  mischief  than  all  the  storms 
of  the  polar  sky.  Besides  preserved  meat  and  vegetables, 
there  were  wine,  spirits,  bread,  flour,  sugar,  cocoa,  lime- 
juice,  and  pickles.  They  then  took  on  board  the  Victory 
stores  and  provisions  sufficient  for  their  use  during  the 
space  of  two  years  and  a  quarter,  by  which  time  they 
hoped  to  have  made  their  way  through  the  long-desired 
passage,  and  returned  to  England.  Vain  hopes,  only  to  end 
in  long  suffering  and  disappointment  !  However,  the 
whole  party  were  in  excellent  spirits  at  finding,  in  an 
abandoned  region  of  solitude,  and  ice,  and  rocks,  a  ready 
market  for  all  their  wants  collected  in  one  spot,  ready  for 
shipment  and  free  of  cost ;  and  having  thus  provided  them- 
selves, they  proceeded  on  their  voyage  down  Prince  Re- 
gent's Inlet,  at  the  bottom  of  which  they  hoped  to  find  a 
passage  to  the  westward. 

The  winter  of  1829  was  unusually  mild  in  that  part 
of  the  world,  and  the  sea  being  therefore  comparatively 
free  from  ice,  the  Victory  reached  the  bottom  of  the 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  17 

inlet  before  the  winter  set  in,  without  any  great  diffi- 
culty. By  the  8th  of  October,  however,  the  ice  had 
gathered  round  them,  and  they  were  fast  frozen  in. 
"  There  was  not,"  writes  the  captain,  "  an  atom  of  clear 
water  to  be  seen  anywhere,  and,  excepting  the  occasional 
dark  points  of  a  protruding  rock,  nothing  but  one  dazzling 
and  monotonous,  dull  and  wearisome  extent  of  snow  was 
visible  all  round  the  horizon  in  the  direction  of  the  land. 
It  was  indeed  a  dull  prospect  amid  all  its  brilliancy  ;  this 
land — this  land  of  ice  and  snow — has  ever  been,  and  ever 
will  be,  a  dull,  dreary,  heart-sinking,  monotonous  waste, 
under  the  influence  of  which  every  mind  is  paralyzed, 
ceasing  to  care  or  think,  as  it  ceases  to  feel  what  might*, 
did  it  occur  but  once,  or  last  but  one  day,  stimulate  us  by 
its  novelty ;  for  it  is  but  a  view  of  uniformity,  and  silence, 
and  death." 

However,  though  the  captain  wrote  thus  dismally,  he 
took  every  precaution  to  preserve  the  health  and  spirits  of 
his  men,  and  with  good  success.  The  rigging  of  the  ship 
was  taken  down,  a  roof,  with  canvass  sides  hanging  be- 
low the  ship's  bulwarks,  was  built  over  the  deck,  and 
under  this  the  men  might  take  exercise  when  the  weather 
was  too  severe  and  boisterous  to  permit  their  leaving  the 
ship  with  safety.  Pipes  were  placed,  both  to  warm  and  to 

2 


18  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX 

ventilate  the  interior  of  the  ship.  The  men's  hammocks 
were  taken  down  at  six  in  the  morning,  and  hung  up  at 
ten  every  night.  The  lower  deck,  being  the  dwelling- 
floor,  was  covered  with  hot  sand  every  morning,  and 
scrubbed  till  eight  o'clock,  when  they  breakfasted.  The 
upper  deck  having  been  covered  with  snow  two  and  a  half 
feet  thick,  was  trodden  down,  till  it  became  a  solid  mass 
of  ice,  and  was  then  sprinkled  with  sand.  At  six  o'clock 
every  evening  the  sailors  attended  school,  in  which  the 
officers  officiated  as  teachers  ;  and  the  captain  states,  that 
the  men  seemed  to  feel  that  they  all  belonged  to  one 
family,  evincing  mutual  kindness,  with  a  regularity  and 
^tranquillity  of  behavior  not  very  general  on  board  of  a 
ship. 

Several  expeditions  were  now  made  from  the  ship, 
during  which  it  was  ascertained  that  they  were  on  a  large 
peninsula,  in  the  Polar  Sea,  which  bounds  the  northern 
shore  of  America.  To  this  peninsula  Captain  Ross  gave 
the  name  of  Boothia  Felix,  in  honor  of  his  patron,  Sir 
Felix  Booth  ;  but  in  no,  other  respect  does  the  name  Felix 
appear  appropriate,  for,  by  the  captain's  account,  this  is 
one  of  the  most  miserable  and  inhospitable  regions  that 
man  has  ever  visited,  being  at  the  very  pentre  of  arctic 
cold — a  land  which  is  never,  even  during  the  height  of  its 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  19 

brief  summer,  free  from  ice  and  snow — where  such  a  thing 
as  a  tree  or  a  flower  is  never  seen ;  mosses  and  lichens, 
and  in  sheltered  situations  a  few  grasses,  being  almost  the 
only  signs  of  vegetation.  It  is  true,  the  poor  captain  and 
his  men  were  frozen  in,  and  compelled  to  pass,  not  one  but 
four  dreary  winters  there,  sorely  against  their  hopes  and 
wishes,  when  they  had  expected  to  acquire  great  renown 
by  forcing  their  way  through  the  Polar  Sea,  and  emerging 
through  Behring's  Straits  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Early  in  January,  1830,  their  solitude  was  interrupted 
by  the  visits  of  some  Esquimaux,  the  wandering  inhabit- 
ants of  this  frozen  land  ;  for,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to 
us,  there  are  actually  people  who  love  this  country  as 
their  father-land — who  are  born,  and  pass  their  lives  in  its 
frozen  solitudes,  doubtless  enjoying  as  much  happiness  as 
if  this  region  were  the  brightest,  sunniest  spot  on  earth. 
The  Esquimaux  are  a  simple-hearted,  harmless  people, 
with  broad,  good-humored,  healthy  faces.  There  were 
thirty-one  in  this  party,  of  whom  the  eldest,  Illicta,  was 
sixty-five  years  old ;  six  others  between  forty  and  fifty ; 
twenty  between  forty  and  twenty;  the  number  being  made 
up  by  four  boys.  Two  were  lame,  and,  with  the  old  man, 
were  drawn  by  the  others  in  sledges.  They  were  all 
well  dressed,  chiefly  in  excellent  deer-skins,  the  upper 


20  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

garments  double,  and  encircling  the  body,  reaching  in  front 
from  the  chin  to  the  middle  of  the  thigh,  and  having  a 
cape  behind  to  draw  over  the  head.  The  sleeves  covered 
the  fingers,  and  of  the  two  skins  that  composed  this  gar- 
ment, one  had  the  hair  next  the  body,  and  the  other  in  the 
reverse  direction.  They  had  on  two  pairs  of  boots,  with 
the  hairy  side  turned  inward,  and  above  them  deer-skin 
trousers,  reaching  very  low  on  the  leg;  besides  which, 
some  of  them  had  shoes  outside  their  boots,  and  trousers 
of  seal  instead  of  deer-skin.  And  very  comfortable 
clothing  this  must  have  been  for  such  a  frozen  climate. 
Under  such  a  heap  of  clothing  they  appeared  a  much 
larger  people  than  they  really  were.  All  of  them  bore 
spears,  looking  not  much  unlike  a  walking-stick,  with  a 
ball  of  wood  or  ivory  at  one  end,  and  a  point  of  horn  at 
the  other.  On  examining  the  shafts  they  were  found  to 
be  formed,  not  of  one  long  stick,  (for  where  no  trees 
grow  no  sticks  can  be  cut,)  but  of  small  pieces  of  wood, 
or  of  the  bones  of  animals  very  neatly  joined  together. 
But  where  can  they  obtain  small  pieces  of  wood  any  more 
than  long  sticks  ?  During  the  summer,  great  quantities  of 
drift-wood  float  along  the  shores  of  the  Polar  seas,  and 
this  is  eagerly  collected  by  the  Esquimaux  for  fuel  and 
other  uses.  This  wood  probably  grew,  for  the  most  part, 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  21 

on  the  banks  of  some  of  the  American  rivers,  which  flow 
into  the  Polar  seas — some  of  it  may  even  be  brought  down 
the  rivers  of  the  northeast  oi  Asia.  However,  from  what- 
ever quarter  it  comes,  it  is  borne  to  and  fro  by  the  winds 
and  currents,  until,  being  caught  in  some  of  the  numerous 
bays  that  indent  these  coasts,  it  falls  into  the  hands  of  the 
Esquimaux. 

Not  having  expected  them  at  this  moment,  Captain 
Ross  had  no  presents  for  them;  but  they  consented  to 
accompany  him  to  the  ship,  and  were  delighted  by  the 
gift  of  thirty-one  pieces  of  hoop  iron.  In  return  they 
offered  their  spears  and  knives,  but  were  very  well  pleased 
to  find  their  offer  was  not  accepted.  "  We  could  now 
easily  see,"  writes  Captain  Ross,  "  that  their  appearance 
was  very  superior  to  our  own ;  being  at  least  as  well 
clothed  and  far  better  fed,  with  plump  cheeks,  of  as  rosy 
a  color  as  they  could  be  under  so  dark  a  skin.  Like 
other  Esquimaux,  their  good-natured  faces  were  a  regular 
oval ;  the  eyes  dark  and  approaching  each  other,  the  nose 
small,  and  the  hair  black."  They  seemed  cleaner,  too,  than 
some  the  captain  had  seen  in  former  voyages.  Their 
dresses  were  made  with  peculiar  neatness,  and  some  were 
ornamented  with  fringes,  made  of  sinews  or  with  strings 
of  small  bones.  They  did  not  relish  the  preserved  meat 


22  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

that  was  given  them,  but  on  being  offered  some  oil,  drank 
it  off  with  great  delight.  Blubber,  fat,  tallow,  iu  short, 
grease  of  any  kind,  however  disgusting  to  us,  is  eagerly 
sought  and  devoured  by  the  Esquimaux.  And  Captain 
Ross  remarks,  very  oddly,  but  not  less  truly,  that  it  would 
be  very  desirable  if  Europeans  who  visit  the  arctic  re- 
gions could  acquire  a  taste  for  the  same  food  ;  since  all 
experience  shows,  that  the  large  use  of  oil  and  fat  meats 
is  the  true  secret  of  life  and  health  in  these  frozen 
countries,  and  that  the  natives  cannot  subsist  without  it, 
becoming  diseased  and  soon  dying  under  a  less  oleaginous 
diet. 

Nor  is  this  impossible,  since  patients  in  English  hos- 
pitals, who  have  been  dosed  with  fish-oil  for  the  cure  of 
rheumatism,  soon  learn  to  like  it,  and  prefer  that  which 
has  the  strongest  flavor.  Many  who  have  perished  in 
the  winters  of  those  climates  might  doubtless  have  been 
saved,  if  they  had  conformed  to  the  usages  and  expe- 
rience of  the  natives.  How  admirably  has  the  Great 
Father  of  men  adapted  the  constitution  of  man  to  accom- 
modate itself  to  the  climate  and  productions  of  the  coun- 
try which  he  inhabits  ! 

The  bears,  seals,  and  whales,  upon  wrhich  the  Esqui- 
maux and  Greenlanders  live  almost  entirely,  have  an 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  23 

enormous  quantity  of  fat  in  their  huge  bodies.  This 
fat  is  found  by  physiologists  to  be  highly  essential  to 
produce,  in  the  process  of  respiration,  a  certain  amount  of 
animal  heat,  so  as  to  keep  up  the  temperature  of  the  body 
in  those  climates.  On  the  contrary,  in  temperate  and 
warm  regions,  such  food  as  the  Esquimaux  enjoy  would, 
besides  being  disgusting,  be  useless  and  hurtful ;  while 
these  people  consume  enormous  quantities  of  it,  and 
are  enabled  thus  to  support  the  bitterness  of  an  arctic 
winter,  without  appearing  to  suffer  more  from  the  ex- 
treme cold  than  do  the  residents  of  more  genial  climes 
during  their  winter.  In  other  respects,  too,  it  is  curious 
to  observe  how  these  poor  people,  simple  and  ignorant  as 
we  may  think  them,  manage  to  live  in  health,  comfort, 
and  plenty,  where  Europeans,  however  hardy,  and  pro- 
vided beforehand  with  a  home,  (their  ship,)  fitted  up  with 
every  comfort,  with  abundant  stores  of  provision  and  ex- 
pensive clothing,  can  hardly  manage  to  exist  for  two  or 
three  years — become  diseased  and  emaciated,  and  think  it 
a  great  achievement  to  return  home  alive. 

The  Esquimaux  seems  to  make  even  the  cold,  that  ren- 
ders every  thing  not  living  as  hard  as  iron,  subservient  to 
his  purpose.  In  two  hours  he  can  build  a  perfect  shelter 
from  the  biting  blast,  with  square  blocks  of  snow.  His 


24  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

house  is  a  dome  of  solid  masonry,  of  which  every  part  is 
nicely  fitted,  and  provided  with  a  long  winding  gallery, 
open  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  from  which  the  coldest 
winds  blow.  From  the  frozen  bodies  of  fish  he  can  form 
a  sledge,  which,  being  bound  together  with  the  sinews  of 
bears  and  deer,  glides  securely  over  the  frozen  plain. 
During  the  winter,  sea  and  land  are  alike  to  him ;  he  har- 
nesses his  dogs  and  gallops  away  over  either,  and  finds  his 
food  beneath  the  ice  that  covers  the  deep. 

Captain  Ross  and  his  men  soon  returned  the  visits  of 
the  Esquimaux,  whose  village  consisted  of  twelve  snow- 
huts,  which  had  the  appearance  of  inverted  basins.  Each 
hut  had  the  long  appendage  mentioned  before  ;  and  oppo- 
site the  entrance  of  the  principal  apartment,  which  was  a 
circular  dome,  was  a  flooring  of  snow,  raised  about  two 
feet  and  a  half  high,  and  covered  with  various  skins :  this 
formed  the  sleeping-place  of  the  family.  At  one  end  of 
this  platform  sat  the  mistress  of  the  house,  opposite  the 
lamp,  which  being  of  moss  and  oil,  gave  sufficient  flame  to 
supply  both  light  and  heat.  Over  the  lamp  was  the  cook- 
ing-dish of  stone,  containing  the  flesh  of  deer  and  of  seals, 
with  oil,  and  there  seemed  abundance  of  this  provision. 
All  these  snow-huts  were  lighted  by  a  large  oval  piece  of 
clear  ice,  fixed  about  half-way  up,  on  the  eastern  side  of 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  25 

the  roof.  Captain  Ross  found  that  all  these  huts  were 
scarcely  a  day  old.  What  cares  the  Esquimaux  for  wood 
and  bricks,  and  slate,  and  glass  ? — he  has  his  ice  and  snow, 
with  which  he  forms  a  perfect  shelter  in  less  time  than  our 
builders  would  require  to  mark  out  the  ground.  This  party 
of  Esquimaux,  and  some  others  besides,  frequently  visited 
the  ship,  and  made  themselves  very  useful  to  our  country- 
men, by  guiding  them  on  their  exploring  trips,  and  catch- 
ing fish.  In  payment  for  these  services  they  were  well 
pleased  to  receive  files,  needles,  and  chisels — in  short,  iron 
in  any  shape,  of  which  they  fully  appreciated  the  use  and 
value. 

One  poor  native,  named  Tulluiahu,  had  lost  a  leg,  and 
was  obliged  to  be  drawn  on  sledges  whenever  his  company 
moved  from  place  to  place.  The  ship's  carpenter  set  to 
work  to  make  him  a  wooden  leg,  with  which  he  stumped 
about  with  great  delight  at  being  once  more  set  upright, 
and  able  to  walk.  In  token  of  gratitude  for  this  service 
his  wife,  Tiriksiu,  made  Captain  Ross  a  complete  female 
dress,  which  was  a  first-rate  specimen  of  Esquimaux  tailor- 
ing ;  the  skins  being  most  carefully  fitted,  so  that  the  col- 
ors of  the  fur  should  match ;  while  there  was  a  fringe 
below,  and  a  border  of  white  round  the  hood  and  arm- 
holes.  In  return,  the  captain  gave  her  a  silk  handkerchief 


26  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

which  attracted  great  admiration.  Tiriksiu  also  gave 
them  some  useful  geographical  information :  she,  in  com- 
mon with  many  of  the  natives,  perfectly  understood  the 
nature  and  object  of  a  chart.  In  fact,  Ikmalik,  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  among  them,  had  drawn,  for  the  captain's 
use,  a  chart  of  the  neighboring  coasts  ;  and  Tiriksiu,  on 
being  shown  it,  marked,  in  addition,  several  islands,  the 
places  where  food  could  be  obtained,  and  where  they  had 
better  sleep  on  their  journey :  and  in  this,  as  in  other  in- 
stances, it  was  found  that  their  information  was  remarka- 
bly accurate. 

The  sun  at  length  began  to  appear  above  the  horizon  ; 
the  winter  gradually  passed  away — at  least  so  it  would 
be  considered  in  those  regions ;  and  the  Esquimaux  de- 
parted to  their  summer  haunts. 

The  ice  gradually  melted  around  the  ship,  and  the 
voyagers  made  every  preparation  for  sailing  away.  They 
watched  anxiously,  day  after  day,  for  an  opportunity  of 
getting  into  open  sea ;  but  not  until  September  did  the 
Victory  once  more  float  in  free  water.  They  got  under 
sail ;  they  advanced  about  three  miles  through  the  loose 
ice  ;  which  soon  united  again,  blocked  up  the  channel  by 
which  they  had  hoped  to  escape,  closed  round  the  Vic- 
tory, and  once  more  were  they  bound  in  for  another  winter, 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  27 

to  be  passed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  last,  but  with 
diminished  hopes  of  success. 

In  August,  1831,  the  Victory  floated  once  more,  was 
towed  out  of  harbor  by  the  boats,  and  this  year  they  sailed 
four  miles,  when  they  were  again  blocked  up  by  the  ice, 
and  a  third  dreary  winter  was  before  them. 

As  the  summer  of  1832  drew  near,  they  determined  to 
abandon  the  ship, '  and  endeavor  to  reach,  in  the  open 
boats,  some  part  of  the  sea  where  they  might  fall  in  with 
some  of  the  whaling-ships  ;  for  by  this  time  the  stores 
they  had  taken  from  Fury  Beach  were  becoming  exhaust- 
ed, and  it  seemed  needful  to  reduce  the  daily  portion  of 
food. 

They  prepared  their  sledges,  boats,  and  provisions  ; 
they  nailed  the  English  flag  to  the  mast  of  the  poor 
Victory,  and  abandoned  her  to  her  fate.  Captain  Ross 
writes — "  It  was  the  first  vessel  I  had  ever  been  obliged 
to  abandon,  after  having  served  in  thirty-six,  during  a 
period  of  forty-two  years.  It  was  like  parting  with  an  old 
friend,  and  I  did  not  pass  the  point  where  she  ceased  to  be 
visible,  without  stopping  to  take  a  sketch  of  this  melan- 
choly desert,  rendered  more  melancholy  by  the  solitary 
abandoned  home  of  our  past  years,  fixed  in  immoveable 
ice,  till  time  should  perform  on  her  his  usual  work." 


28  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

After  many  difficulties  and  hardships  they  again  reached 
Fury  Beach  on  the  1st  of  July,  and  found  the  remainder 
of  the  provisions  in  the  same  condition  as  they  had  left 
them  three  years  before.  Here  the  poor  travellers  were 
once  more  put  on  a  full  allowance  of  food.  They  built  a 
house,  and  rested  for  a  month,  in  order  to  recruit  after 
their  fatigues  in  dragging  the  boats  and  sledges  over  the 
rough  ice,  or,  worse  still,  the  soft,  melting  snow.  By  the 
1st  of  August  some  clear,  navigable  water  appeared  ;  the 
boats  were  launched,  and  they  beat  about  for  the  next  two 
months,  in  hopes  of  gaining  the  open  sea,  where  they 
might  probably  find  some  whaling-ships.  It  was,  how- 
ever, in  vain ;  the  ice  again  closed  round  them,  and  leaving 
their  boats  drawn  up  in  a  secure  position  on  the  beach, 
they  had  once  more  to  return  to  their  house  on  Fury 
Beach,  and  make  preparations  to  pass  there  their  fourth 
winter,  which  they  spent  as  before,  but  without  any  visits 
from  the  Esquimaux,  who  do  not  appear  to  have  frequent- 
ed this  spot. 

In  July,  1833,  they  once  more  set  forward  on  their 
way.  They  found  the  boats  where  they  had  left  them 
the  preceding  autumn,  and  during  August  they  sailed 
along  the  lane  of  water,  which  now  appeared  through 
the  ice,  and  by  the  17th  the  sea  was  once  more  free. 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  29 

On  the  26th  they  were  aroused  by  Wood,  the  look-out 
man,  who  thought  he  saw  "  a  sail  in  the  offing ;"  and 
the  telescope  soon  showed  that  it  really  was  a  ship,  though 
there  were  still  some  despairers,  who  maintained  that  it 
was  only  an  iceberg,  which  frequently  has  the  appearance, 
at  a  distance,  of  a  vessel  under  sail.  No  time  was  to  be 
lost ;  they  burned  wet  powder  to  attract  attention  from  the 
still  distant  vessel ;  launched  the  boats  from  the  shore,  and 
set  off,  with  sail  and  oar,  in  pursuit  of  her,  and  hoped 
soon  to  have  been  alongside.  Just  then  a  breeze  sprung 
up,  the  ship  bore  up  before  it  and  sailed  away,  and  left 
the  poor  boats'  crews  unnoticed,  far  behind.  About  ten 
o'clock  they  saw  another  vessel  to  the  northward,  which 
appeared  to  be  lying-to  for  the  boats.  This,  however,  was 
not  the  case,  as  she  too  soon  bore  up  under  all  sail,  and  it 
was  too  evident  that  she  was  fast  leaving  them.  This 
was  a  most  anxious  moment  for  our  poor  discoverers,  who 
found  themselves  so  near  two  ships,  either  of  which  would 
have  put  an  end  to  all  their  fears  and  toils,  and  yet  that 
they  might  possibly  reach  neither.  Providentially,  the 
wind  ceased,  and  the  boats  once  more  gained  on  the  ship, 
whose  crew  soon  discovered  them,  and  a  boat  was  lowered 
and  rowed  directly  towards  the  three  in  which  were 
Captain  Ross  and  his  men.  She  was  soon  within  hail, 


30  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

and  the  mate  in  command  of  her  asked  if  they  had  lost 
their  ship.  This  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the 
captain  requested  to  know  the  name  of  his  vessel,  and 
was  answered,  "The  Isabella,  of  Hull,  formerly  com- 
manded by  Captain  Ross."  "  On  this  I  stated,"  says  the 
captain,  "  that  I  was  the  identical  man,  and  my  people 
the  crew  of  the  Victory.  That  the  mate  was  as  much 
astonished  at  this  information  as  he  appeared  to  be,  I 
do  not  doubt ;  but  with  the  usual  blunderheadedness 
of  men  on  such  occasions,  he  assured  me  that  I  had  been 
dead  two  years."  The  captain  soon  convinced  him  that 
he  was  mistaken,  and  a  hearty  congratulation,  in  true 
seaman's  style,  followed  of  course,  and  he  returned  to 
his  ship  to  tell  the  news.  As  they  slowly  followed  him, 
he  jumped  on  board,  and  in  a  minute  the  rigging  of  the 
Isabella  was  manned,  and  Captain  Ross  and  his  men  were 
saluted  with  three  cheers,  and  a  hearty  seaman's  welcome. 
The  captain  adds — "  Though  we  had  not  been  supported 
by  our  names  and  characters,  we  should  not  the  less 
have  received  from  charity  the  attentions  we  received, 
for  never  was  seen  a  more  miserable  set  of  wretches :  no 
beggar  that  wanders  in  Ireland  could  have  outdone  us. 
Unshaven  since  I  know  not  when,  dirty,  dressed  in  the 
rags  of  wild  beasts,  and  starved  to  the  very  bones,  our 


BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX.  31 

gaunt  and  grim  looks,  when  contrasted  with  those  of  the 
well-dressed  and  well-fed  men  around  us,  made  us  all  feel, 
I  believe  for  the  first  time,  what  we  really  were,  as  well 
as  what  we  seemed  to  others.  But  a  ludicrous  scene  soon 
took  place  of  all  other  feelings.  In  such  a  crowd  and  in 
such  confusion  all  serious  thought  was  impossible,  while 
the  new  buoyancy  of  our  spirits  made  us  abundantly 
willing  to  be  amused  by  the  scene  which  now  opened. 
Every  man  was  hungry,  and  was  to  be  fed ;  all  were 
ragged,  and  were  to  be  clothed ;  there  was  not  one  to 
whom  washing  was  not  indispensable,  nor  one  whom  his 
beard  did  not  deprive  of  all  English  resemblance.  All, 
every  thing,  too,  was  to  be  done  at  once — it  was  washing, 
dressing,  shaving,  eating,  all  intermingled — it  was  all  the 
materials  of  each  jumbled  together,  while  in  the  midst  of 
all  these  there  were  interminable  questions  to  be  asked 
and  answered  on  all  sides — the  adventures  of  the  Victory, 
our  own  escapes,  the  politics  of  England,  and  the  news 
which  was  now  four  years  old.  But  all  subsided  into 
peace  at  last.  The  sick  were  accommodated,  the  seamen 
disposed  of,  and  all  was  done  for  us  which  care  and  kind- 
ness could  perform.  Night  at  length  brought  quiet  and 
serious  thoughts;  and  I  trust  there  was  not  one  man 
among  us  who  did  not  then  express  where  it  was  due 


32  BOOTHIA  FELIX  AND  THE  ESQUIMAUX. 

his  gratitude  for  that  interposition  which  had  raised  us  all 
from  despair,  which  none  could  now  forget,  and  had 
brought  us  from  the  brink  of  a  not  distant  grave  to  life, 
and  friends,  and  civilization.  Long  accustomed,  however, 
to  a  cold  bed,  on  the  hard  snow  or  the  bare  rock,  few 
could  sleep  amid  the  comfort  of  our  new  accommodations. 
I  was  myself  compelled  to  leave  the  bed  which  had  been 
so  kindly  assigned  me,  and  to  take  my  abode  in  a  chair  for 
the  night ;  nor  did  it  fare  much  better  with  the  rest.  It 
was  for  time  to  reconcile  us  to  this  sudden  and  violent 
change — to  break  through  what  had  become  habit,  and  to 
inure  us  once  more  to  the  usages  of  our  former  days." 

In  October,  1833,  the  Isabella  reached  England  in  safe- 
ty, and  Captain  Ross  and  his  companions,  after  all  their 
dangers  and  hardships,  were  warmly  welcomed  home  by 
their  countrymen,  who  had  long  given  them  up  for  lost. 


\-HANTEE  CHIEF, 


THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF. 

To  compare  the  manners  and  customs  of  different  na- 
tions, the  countries  which  they  inhabit,  their  climates  and 
productions,  is  always  interesting  ;  and  we  have  here  as 
great  a  contrast  as  could  well  be  imagined,  to  the  fur-clad 
dwellers  among  the  snow-plains  and  icebergs  of  Boothia 
Felix,  in  the  fiery  Ashantee,  from  the  burning  coast  of 
Africa. 

The  land  of  Ashantee  forms  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  Guinea,  into  which  its  numerous  rivers  "roll 
down  the  golden  sand."  The  deep  shade  of  huge  forests 
overhangs  their  banks,  beneath  which  lurks  many  a 
monster  of  the  deep  :— the  huge  hippopotamus,  the  cruel 
and  crafty  alligator,  and,  deadlier  still  than  any  living  foe, 
the  fatal  African  fever. 

There,  as  the  night,  chilly  with  heavy  dews,  gives  way 
to  morning,  a  stifling  and  sulphureous  mist  rises  from  the 
river's  slime,  and  from  the  immense  accumulation  of  the 
quickly-decaying  vegetation  ;  it  creeps  along  the  valleys 

and  the  courses  of  the  streams,  until  drawn  upward  by 

3 


34  THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF. 

the  increasing  heat ;  and  then  the  fierce  sun  of  the  tropics 
beats  upon  the  fevered  head  of  the  fated  traveller.  Day 
fades  at  once  into  darkness,  without  the  gradual  twilight 
of  our  temperate  zone,  and,  with  night,  again  returns  the 
cold  and  aguish  dew.  Oh,  it  is  indeed  a  horrible  climate 
for  Europeans,  and  well  has  the  coast  of  Central  Africa 
merited  the  name  of  "  The  White  Man's  Grave  !"  And 
we  are  apt  to  wonder  how  it  is  possible  that  man  can 
inhabit  such  a  land,  and  that  he  does  not  abandon  it  to 
the  wild  beasts  which  prowl  and  roar  around  his  villages 
at  night,  and  lie  hid  in  the  depths  of  gloomy  woods  by 
day.  Not  so,  however,  does  the  Ashantee  chief  think  of 
his  country  ;  for  He  whose  command,  in  the  early  days  of 
man's  creation,  was  "  to  replenish  the  earth  and  subdue 
it,"  has  implanted  in  the  human  breast  an  instinctive  at- 
tachment to  the  country  of  our  birth  ;  and  having  spread 
abroad  the  sons  of  men  over  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  has 
given  them  a  capacity  for  happiness  under  all  climes, 
which  perpetuates  and  ensures  the  fulfilment  of  His  origi- 
nal command. 

"  But  where  to  find  that  happiest  spot  below? 
Who  can  direct  when  all  pretend  to  know  ? 
The  shuddering  tenant  of  the  frigid  zone 
Boldly  proclaims  the  happiest  spot  his  own  ; 


THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF.  35 

Extols  the  treasures  of  his  stormy  seas, 
And  his  long  nights  of  revelry  and  ease. 
The  naked  negro,  panting  at  the  line, 
Boasts  of  his  golden  sands  and  palmy  wine  ; 
Basks  in  the  glare,  or  stems  the  tepid  wave, 
And  thanks  his  gods  for  all  the  good  they  gave. 
Such  is  the  patriot's  boast,  where'er  we  roam, 
His  first,  best  country  ever  is  at  home." 


But  we  must  not  leave  the  Ashantee  chief  without  a 
little  more  information  about  him  and  his  father-land. 
The  interior  is  not  nearly  so  unhealthy  as  the  coasts, 
although  even  there  immense  forests  cover  the  face  of  the 
country,  which  becomes  mountainous  as  we  proceed  in- 
land. The  trees  are  of  stupendous  growth,  and  of  endless 
variety : — the  gigantic  boabab — the  mangrove  and  the 
palm,  mingled  with  a  wild  entanglement  of  thorny  under- 
wood, skirt  the  margins  of  the  rivers : — the  elegant  tulip- 
tree,  aloes,  and  citrons,  of  various  kinds,  and  whole  forests 
of  trees,  elsewhere  unknown,  diversify  the  interior.  The 
sugar-cane  grows  wild,  fruits  without  end  abound,  and 
"  flowers  worthy  of  paradise,"  of  a  splendor  and  magnifi- 
cence unknown  in  our  conservatories,  and  surpassed  by 
the  productions  of  no  country  in  the  world,  are  scattered  in 
wild  profusion. 


36  THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF. 

Thus  stimulated  alternately  by  the  glowing  sun  and 
the  deluges  of  the  rainy  season,  (the  only  winter  of  the 
tropical  regions,)  the  rank  and  teeming  soil  of  Ashantee 
gives  birth,  in  rich  abundance,  to  the  noblest  forms  and 
brightest  colors  of  vegetable  life. 

Nor  are  its  animals  less  various  or  numerous.  Among 
them  are  the  elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  and  the  giraffe, 
monkeys  of  various  sizes  and  sorts,  the  porcupine,  the 
sloth,  and  the  civet-cat,  the  lordly  lion,  the  beautiful  but 
cruel  tiger,  leopards,  wolves,  and  jackals. 

Reptiles  are  prodigiously  numerous  : — serpents  of  every 
size,  from  the  common  boa  to  one  not  a  yard  long,  but 
exceedingly  venomous,  infest  not  only  the  woods  and  long 
grass,  but  the  dwellings  of  the  natives,  and  the  forts  of 
European  settlers.  Scorpions  and  centipedes,  toads  and 
frogs  of  an  enormous  size,  and  lizards  in  great  variety 
abound.  , 

Birds  "  of  every  wing,"  too  numerous  to  mention,  (and 
some  indeed  as  yet  unnamed  by  naturalists,)  few  of  which 
are  of  tuneful  voice,  but  the  greater  proportion  of  ex- 
quisitely brilliant  plumage,  flit  across  the  dim  twilight  of 
the  woods,  dive  into  the  waters,  or  wing  their  bolder  flight 
beneath  the  glowing  skies  of  Ashantee. 

Amidst  scenes  like  these,  of  wild  and  rank  luxuriance 


THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF.  37 

—with  nature,  animate  and  inanimate,  exhibited  in  a 
mingled  aspect  of  savage  gloom  and  dazzling  splendor — 
with  beauty  and  loathsomeness,  and  magnificence  and 
death  side  by  side — man  seems  to  partake  of  the  character 
of  the  clime. 

With  passions  fierce  and  unrestrained,  the  Ashantees 
are  yet  enterprising,  intelligent,  cleanly,  and  industrious, 
far  beyond  most  of  the  negro  race  ;  among  whom  they  are 
pre-eminent  for  their  advancement  in  the  useful  arts. 
Their  plantations  are  laid  out  with  order  and  neatness  ; 
the  native  weavers  manufacture  clothing,  as  fine  in  text- 
ure and  as  brilliant  in  color  as  many  of  the  products  of  an 
English  factory.  The  houses,  generally  thatched,  and  of 
one  story,  are  neatly  built,  and  the  walls  are  ornamented 
with  rude  hieroglyphic  sculptures.  Their  markets  are 
well  provided  and  regulated,  and  their  dress,  especially 
that  of  the  higher  orders,  is  tastefully  arranged  and  orna- 
mented "  with  pomp  barbaric,  gems  and  gold,"  of  native 
produce,  and  by  native  artists. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Ashantee  delights  in  the  blood 
of  his  fellow-man,  which  is  poured  forth  like  water,  not 
only  in  the  heat  of  battle,  but  at  every  occasion  of  rejoicing 
or  of  mourning.  The  death  of  a  free  Ashantee  is,  in  al- 
most all  cases,  attended  by  a  sacrifice  of  human  life,  "  to 


38  THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF. 

wet  the  grave,"  as  they  term  it ;  and  the  slaughter  is  great 
in  proportion  to  the  rank  of  the  deceased.  On  all  public 
occasions,  but  especially  at  their  two  great  annual  festivals, 
the  most  brutal  drunkenness  stimulates  all  the  bad  pas- 
sions of  man,  till  the  whole  population  seems  wrought  up 
to  the  very  pitch  of  madness  and  cruelty.  The  greater 
proportion  of  the  population  are  slaves,  whose  numbers, 
as  they  are  thinned  by  oppression  at  home,  and  by  sale 
to  the  yet  more  guilty  European  man-stealer,  are  recruited 
by  fresh  arrivals  of  prisoners  taken  in  their  constant  wars 
with  neighboring  tribes.  The  government  is  a  tyranny, 
cemented  by  blood  and  supported  by  confiscation ;  their 
religion,  a  degrading  and  bloody  superstition. 

And  yet,  while  we  thus  describe,  in  terms  of  abhorrence, 
his  character  and  habits,  let  us  remember — and  the  re- 
flection may  rightly  mitigate  the  severity  of  our  judgment 
of  the  poor  Ashantee — that  but  a  few  centuries  ago  and 
such  a  picture  as  this  would  have  been  almost  exactly 
applicable  to  our  pagan  forefathers,  whether  of  British  or 
of  Saxon  race.  Such  as  the  Ashantee  is  now,  such  were 
our  ancestors  twelve  hundred  years  ago — ignorant,  crafty, 
cruel,  and  revengeful. 

The  human  sacrifices  in  the  Druid's  wicker  idol— the 
wild  revelry  and  fiendish  cruelty  of  the  sea-kings — the 


THE  ASHANTEE  CHIEF.  39 

feasts  of  Victory,  where  blood  was  mingled  with  the 
draughts  of  intoxication,  and  the  skull  of  the  slain  was  the 
goblet — the  imaged  halls  of  Valhalla,  where  the  Saxon  or 
Danish  warrior  hoped  to  revel  for  ever  with  Odin  and  his 
peers,  in  a  continuation  of  the  mingled  debauchery  and 
bloodshed  which  had  marked  his  earthly  career  : — what  is 
there  worse  than  these  in  the  practices  and  superstition  of 
the  modern  Ashantee  ?  And  why,  contrasting  the  English- 
man of  the  present  day  with  his  barbarous  ancestors, 
should  we  despair  of  the  ultimate  advancement  of  the  now 
benighted  African  to  the  light  of  civilization,  to  the  purity 
of  Christianity  ?  And  though  this,  like  many  other  of  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth,  be  "  full  of  the  habitations  of 
cruelty,"  why  should  we  doubt  that  the  light  of  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  God  will,  in  his  own  good  time,  shine  in  their 
hearts  aiyl  dispel  the  darkness  ? 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAM-BOAT. 

AMONG  our  "  Glimpses  of  the  Wonderful"  the  Railway 
and  the  Railway-engine  may,  with  great  propriety,  have 
a  prominent  place.  For  is  it  not,  indeed,  wonderful  that 
a  machine,  formed  by  human  skill  of  the  rough  metals 
dug  from  the  earth,  and  fed  with  fire  and  water,  should  be 
endowed  with  swiftness  far  beyond  that  of  the  fleetest 
courser  that  ever  scoured  the  plain,  with  strength  mightier 
than  that  of  the  largest  elephant,  and  yet  with  a  facility 
of  management  so  exquisite  that  a  touch  of  the  finger  can 
accelerate  or  retard  its  speed,  can  reverse  the  direction  of 
its  course,  and  give  warning  afar  off  of  its  winged 
approach?  Under  the  guidance  of  a  skilful  engineer, 
the  locomotive  gathers  up  all  its  powers  for  the  heavier 
load,  or  for  the  ascending  plane,  and  with  increased  and 
yet  increasing  speed  rushes  onward  with  its  enormous 
freight  to  the  appointed  goal. 

Most,  if  not  all.  of  my  readers  have,  no  doubt,  visited  a 
railway-station,  and  none  who  have  witnessed  can  fail  to 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT.  41 

be  amused  at  the  busy  scene  presented  when  a  train  is 
about  to  start.  Here  are  the  clerks  taking  money  and  dis- 
persing tickets  to  first  or  second-class  passengers  going  to 
various  stations  on  the  line  ;  numerous  porters  wheel  along 
the  heaps  of  passengers'  luggage  ;  the  superintendent  is 
busy  everywhere  giving  his  directions ;  the  guard  is 
handing  the  passengers  to  their  seats,  and  as  the  moment 
of  starting  approaches  examines  his  timepiece,  hung  at 
his  side  in  a  leathern  wallet ;  the  engineer  and  his  as- 
sistants, grim  with  coke-dust,  are  feeding  with  fuel  and 
water  their  mighty  steed,  from  whose  huge  form  issue 
strange  noises — the  bubble-bubble  of  the  heating  water, 
the  deafening  hiss  and  scream  of  the  hot  vapor  that 
struggles  to  burst  its  prison,  and  scatter  death  and  de- 
struction around,  if  not  allowed  an  occasional  outburst ; 
while  ever  and  anon  a  gigantic  snort,  and  a  few  quick, 
impatient  strokes  of  the  piston,  give  startling  warning. 
The  first  bell  rings ;  the  breathless  loiterer  who  rushes 
into  the  station  at  the  very  last  moment,  and  sorely  tries 
the  patience  of  the  attendants  with  most  unseasonable 
heaps  of  luggage,  is  pushed  into  a  seat,  feverish  to  the 
last  with  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  his  goods  and  chattels ; 
the  door  is  slammed  after  him,  the  guard  mounts  to  his 
seat,  the  engineer  makes  some  magical  movement  of  his 


42  THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT. 

hand,  and  the  long  train,  with  engine,  carriages,  passen- 
gers, and  luggage,  glides  smoothly  on,  out  of  the  station- 
house,  past  confused  crowds  of  more  trucks,  carriages,  and 
engines ;  past  long  and  lofty  piles  of  warehouses  and  en- 
gine-rooms, which  appear,  and  glimmer,  and  vanish,  before 
the  dazzled  eyes  of  the  travellers  ;  and  the  mighty  mass, 
gathering  speed  as  it  goes,  is  soon  bounding  along  over 
the  open  country. 

Let  us  examine  a  little  into  the  means  by  which  this  is 
accomplished ;  and,  without  attempting  a  scientific  de- 
scription of  the  several  parts  of  a  locomotive  engine,  en- 
deavor to  understand  the  general  principles  on  which  they 
are  commonly  constructed. 

The  sketch  before  us  does  not,  nor  could  it,  in  so  con- 
fined a  space,  exhibit  every  part  of  the  beautiful  ma- 
chinery ;  but  sufficient  is  shown  to  enable  us,  if  not  to 
see  how  every  thing  is  done,  to  obtain  a  tolerable  idea 
how  it  may  be  done. 

I  conclude  that  my  readers  are  aware  that  water,  when 
heated  to  the  boiling-point,  (which,  at  about  the  level  of 
the  sea,  is  at  two  hundred  and  twelve  degrees  of  Fahren- 
heit's thermometer,)  evaporates  in  steam.  At  this  heal:, 
steam,  under  the  ordinary  pressure,  requires  about  1700 
times  the  space  that  was  occupied  by  the  water  which  pro- 


SECTION  AND  VIEW  OF  LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINE. 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT.  43 

duced  it ;  and  this  very  steam,  at  a  still  greater  heat,  will 
fill  a  space  greater  in  proportion.  Being  compressed  into 
a  smaller  compass  steam  has  an  expansive  force,  greater 
or  less  in  proportion  to  its  heat ;  and  in  fact  this  force 
may  be  so  tremendously  increased  by  the  continued  in- 
crease of  heat,  that  it  has  no  ascertainable  limit,  as  we 
can  construct  no  vessel  so  strong  that  it  would  not  be 
burst  asunder  by  the  steam  confined  within  it  and  heated 
to  a  certain  point. 

To  avoid  the  awful  destruction  attendant  on  the  explo- 
sion of  large  boilers,  the  boilers  of  locomotives  consist 
of  a  number  of  small  metal  tubes,  (2,)  which  are  kept 
constantly  supplied  with  water  from  a  cistern  in  the 
tender  attached.  If  one  of  these  tubes  burst,  the  ex- 
plosion is  comparatively  trifling,  and  the  danger  and  loss 
of  power  but  slight.  The  fire  (1)  in  the  hinder  part  of 
the  engine  is  supplied  with  coke,  through  a  door  opening 
towards  the  platform  on  which  the  engineer  stands.  On 
the  lower  part  of  the  opposite  side  of  the  furnace  (the 
left-hand  side  in  the  cut)  is  a  grating  for  the  admission  of 
air  to  the  fire ;  and  as  this  grating  is  towards  the  front, 
the  air,  as  the  engine  rushes  forward,  is  met  and  forced 
through  its  bars  with  great  velocity,  so  as  vastly  to  in- 
crease the  fierceness  of  the  fire.  The  air,  heated  in  pass- 


44       THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT. 

ing  through  the  fire,  and  mixing  with  the  vapor  of  burn- 
ing coke,  is  highly  inflammable  ;  and  thus  the  whole  appa- 
ratus of  tubes  (2)  which  forms  the  boiler,  is  completely 
enveloped  in  the  fiercest  flame,  and  steam  is  formed  in  the 
tubes  with  amazing  rapidity  and  of  great  expansive  force. 
The  air  and  vapor  of  coke  (which  causes  little  if  any 
smoke)  having  thus  performed  their  office,  rush  up  the 
chimney  of  the  engine,  and  thus  still  further  increase  the 
draught  of  the  fire.  (3) 

The  steam  thus  generated  in  the  tubes,  following  the 
course  of  the  arrow  downward,  is  admitted  by  valves  into 
the  piston-box,  (5)  but  alternately  before  and  behind  the 
piston.  In  the  cut  the  piston  is  at  the  half-stroke.  We 
will  suppose  that  the  engineer,  by  turning  the  handle  at 
8,  in  the  direction  proper  for  his  object,  admits  the  steam 
before  the  piston  ;  (that  is,  at  5 ;)  the  piston  is  thus  forced 
backward  towards  the  end  of  its  box.  By  its  arrival 
there  the  valve,  admitting  steam  into  the  fore  part  of  the 
piston,  is  closed,  and  another  valve,  admitting  it  to  the 
hinder  part,  is  opened,  and  the  piston  is  forced  back  again, 
when  the  process  is  repeated,  and  the  piston  is  thus  moved 
rapidly  backward  and  forward  by  the  admission  and  ex- 
clusion of  steam  alternately  before  and  behind  it.  The 
piston-rod  is  attached  by  a  hinge  to  what  is  called  a  pin- 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT.  45 

ion,  which  acts  in  the  same  manner  as  the  arm  of  a  man 
in  turning  the  handle  of  a  grindstone.  As  the  man's  arm, 
by  being  alternately  thrown  forward  and  drawn  back, 
turns  round  the  grindstone,  so  the  pinion  turns  round  the 
large  wheel  in  the  middle  of  the  cut,  and  this,  revolving 
on  the  smooth  iron  railway,  sets  in  motion  the  whole. 

Now,  it  takes  a  great  many  words  merely  to  describe, 
thus  simply  and  unscientifically,  how  the  steam,  by  forcing 
the  piston  backward  and  forward,  thus  sets  the  engine 
in  motion  ;  and  no  one  who  has  not  seen  a  fast  locomotive 
engine  at  work  would  imagine,  from  my  description,  the 
ease  and  wonderful  rapidity  with  which  it  acts.  On  the 
Great  Western  Railway  the  engine  frequently  draws  a 
long  and  heavy  train  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  in  an  hour ; 
and  when  unencumbered  the  same  engine  could,  no  doubt, 
be  made  to  travel  nearly  twice  as  fast.  However,  we 
will  suppose  an  engine  to  travel  thirty  miles  only  in  an 
hour,  or  a  mile  in  two  minutes,  and  that  its  wheel  is  eigh- 
teen feet  round,  or  about  six  feet  in  diameter.  Now  let 
us  calculate  how  many  strokes  in  a  minute  the  piston 
must  make  to  propel  the  engine  at  this  rate.  The  wheel, 
being  six  yards  round,  must  turn  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  times  and  one-third  (one-sixth  of  1760)  in  the  course 
of  a  mile  ;  two  strokes  of  the  piston  are  necessary  to  turn 


46       THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT. 

the  wheel,  therefore  the  piston  must  give  four  hundred 
and  eighty-six  strokes  for  every  mile  the  engine  travels. 
At  our  supposed  speed  of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  that  is  of 
course  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  strokes  in  two  minutes ; 
two  hundred  and  forty-three  in  a  minute  ;  more  than  four 
in  a  second.  Now,  if  we  consider  that  the  piston  must  be 
perfectly  air-tight,  and  yet  that  it  must  glide  up  and  down 
in  its  tube  with  such  astonishing  rapidity,  and  consider 
further  that  each  little  valve  which  admits  or  shuts  off  the 
steam  must  open  and  shut  at  every  stroke  of  the  piston 
with  the  nicest  accuracy,  we  shall  see  that  the  machine 
must  be  most  beautifully  contrived  in  all  its  parts,  most 
accurately  adjusted,  and  most  carefully  tended.  There 
must  be  no  rust  to  corrode,  no  grit  to  cause  friction  ;  every 
screw,  and  bolt,  and  nut,  must  be  secure  ;  every  valve 
must  both  fit  closely  and  move  easily  :  in  short,  every  part 
must  fulfil  its  office  with  the  most  exquisite  ease  and  ex- 
actness. 

It  would  be  impossible  here  to  explain  all  the  wonder- 
ful contrivances  by  which  the  locomotive  engine  is  made 
to  perform  all  its  functions.  To  bring  it  to  its  present 
state  of  efficiency  for  speed  and  power,  some  of  the 
ablest  men  of  our  day  have  labored  through  many  an 
anxious  hour — with  many  a  hazardous  experiment,  ad- 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT.  47 

vancing  step  by  step  from  one  improvement  to  another — 
here  gaining  more  power,  there  an  addition  to  speed — at 
one  time  effecting  a  saving  in  fuel,  at  another  obtaining 
an  increase  of  safety,  until  now,  in  careful  hands,  a  loco- 
motive engine,  with  all  its  tremendous  powers  of  destruc- 
tion, is  more  under  control  than  the  gentlest  steed  that  ever 
lady  rode. 

It  is  curious,  that  so  long  before  steam  was  brought  into 
general  use  as  a  locomotive  power  on  land,  it  should  have 
been  extensively  employed  on  water.  Against  wind  and 
tide,  through  storm  and  calm,  the  gallant  vessel  ploughs 
her  way,  urged  onward  by  the  fire  that  burns  within  her. 
Steam-vessels  have  hitherto  been  generally  propelled  by 
having  on  each  side  a  large  and  broad  wrheel,  across  the 
circumference  of  which  a  series  of  vanes  or  paddles  is 
fitted,  in  the  direction  best  adapted  for  forcing  the  vessel 
through  the  water  by  a  succession  of  powerful  strokes. 
These  paddle-wheels  are  made  to  revolve  by  being  con- 
nected with  the  machinery  of  the  engine,  erected  in  the 
centre  of  the  vessel.  The  motive-power,  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  itsapplication,  are  the  same  as  in  the  engine  of  the 
railway  locomotive  ;  but  the  different  circumstances  under 
which  they  have  to  act,  occasion  many  variations  in  the 
construction  of  engines  for  the  two  purposes.  On  the  rail- 


48  THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT. 

road,  speed  along  a  smooth,  level  way,  is  the  great  practl 
cal  object  to  be  obtained  ;  on  the  water,  power  to  force  the 
vessel  onward  through  all  opposition  from  adverse  winds, 
and  waves,  and  currents,  is  the  great  essential  ;  and  the 
machinery  in  each  instance  must  be  adapted  for  the  end 
in  view.  The  short,  rapid  stroke  of  the  railway-engine 
would  be  powerless  against  a  head-wind  or  an  opposing 
tide  ;  the  powerful  machinery  of  the  steam-packet  would 
probably  not  propel  a  train  on  the  railway  at  a  speed 
greater  than  that  of  the  old  four-horse  mail-coaches. 

Most  steam- vessels  of  any  considerable  burden  have  two 
engines,  as  shown  in  the  section  before  us.  It  will  be 
seen  that  while  the  piston  of  one  engine  is  up,  that  of  the 
other  is  down  ;  and  thus,  by  alternate  action,  a  greater 
uniformity  of  stroke  is  given  to  the  paddles,  and  that 
jumping,  jarring  motion,  so  unpleasant  on  many  vessels,  is 
diminished  or  avoided.  A  little  consideration  will  show, 
that  the  propelling  power  of  the  paddle-wheel  is  limited 
to  that  portion  of  its  circumference  which  has  a  horizontal 
motion  through  the  water,  and  that  those  paddles  which 
are  entering  the  water  and  move  in  a  downward  direction, 
as  well  as  those  that  are  just  emerging  and  are  pulled  up 
(so  to  speak)  out  of  the  water,  must  have  a  retarding 
effect,  to  counteract  which  many  ingenious  plans  for 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT.  49 

changing  and  regulating  the  direction  of  the  floats  as  they 
enter  and  leave  the  water  have  been  proposed,  but  to  little 
practical  purpose. 

This  retarding  effect  takes  place  even  in  smooth  water, 
and  when  the  vessel  is  on  an  even  keel ;  but  when  a 
vessel,  either  from  the  roughness  of  the  sea,  or  from  the 
direction  of  its  course  being  broadside  to  the  wind,  "  heels 
over,"  as  the  sailors  call  it,  the  paddle-wheel  on  one  side 
is  buried  deep  in  the  water,  while  that  on  the  higher,  or 
weather  side,  is  vainly  turning  round  in  the  air ;  under 
such  circumstances  neither  wheel  aids  the  progress  of  the 
vessel  materially,  if  at  all. 

These  circumstances  have  induced  engineers  to  seek  for 
a  mode  of  applying  the  propelling  force  in  a  way  not 
liable  to  the  disadvantages  connected  with  paddle-wheels 
fixed  on  each  side  of  the  vessel.  In  this,  as  in  thousands 
of  other  cases,  the  wisest  of  men  have  been  glad  to  con- 
sult the  works  of  an  all-wise  Artificer,  and  from  these 
have  obtained  a  hint  of  their  most  valuable  discoveries. 
Who  has  not  admired  the  graceful  motions  of  gold  and 
silver  fish  in  a  glass  bowl — :the  gentle  waving  of  the  deli- 
cate fins  which  Balance  their  bodies,  from  which  the 
dancing  sunshine  gleams  and  flashes — and  where  they 
float  in  evident  ease  and  enjoyment  ?  But  watch  closely 

4 


50       THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT. 

when  one  of  those  delicate  little  creatures  darts  across  its 
transparent  globe,  there  is  a  quick,  waving  motion  of  the 
broad  tail,  which  gives  the  quick  forward  impulse  as  it 
strikes  the  water  ;  and  we  shall  find  that  the  finny  tribe, 
from  the  tiny  sprat  to  the  huge  leviathan,  owe  to  this  simple 
means  their  power  of  rapid  locomotion.  Improving 
upon  this  hint  from  nature,  and  considering  also  the 
mode  in  which  a  single  oar  at  the  stern  of  a  boat  is  made, 
by  a  peculiar  movement  of  the  wrists,  to  propel  it  in 
any  direction,  engineers  have  recently  substituted  for  the 
cumbrous  and  unsightly  paddle-wheels  at  the  vessel's 
sides,  a  machine,  fixed  under  water  beneath  the  ship's 
stern,  and  projecting  beyond  the  rudder  ;  and  which,  being 
turned  by  the  steam-engine,  propels  the  vessel  through  the 
water,  upon  the  same  principle  as  the  waving,  screw-like 
movement  of  a  fish's  tail.  To  this  contrivance  has  been 
given  the  name  of  the  screw-propeller,  and  it  has  re- 
cently been  tried  on  a  magnificent  scale  in  the  Great 
Britain  steamer,  a  gigantic  iron  ship,  recently  built  at 
Bristol,  and  intended  for  the  regular  and  rapid  communi- 
cation established  between  this  country  and  the  United 
States  of  America, 

It  is  probable  that  experience  may  lead  to  still  further 
improvements  in  the  application  of  this  principle  ;    but 


THE  RAILWAY  AND  THE  STEAMBOAT.       51 

already  it  has  been  most  successful,  the  Great  Britain 
having  performed  her  experimental  trips  to  admiration, 
and  safely  accomplished  the  voyage  from  Liverpool  to 
New  York  and  back  again.  It  must  be  evident,  that  if 
the  power  obtained  be  sufficient,  its  application  in  this 
way  must  be  much  more  uniform  and  regular  than  by 
the  old  system  of  paddle-wheels,  as  the  screw-propeller 
acts  directly  upon  the  centre  of  the  vessel,  and  being 
always  under  water,  escapes  the  jars  and  violent  shocks 
to  which  the  broad  and  exposed  surface  of  the  paddles  is 
subject  by  the  striking  of  heavy  seas  against  them. 


THE  EARTHQUAKE  AT  LISBON. 

AMONG  all  the  catastrophes  of  which  we  read  in  history, 
few  appear  so  horrible  as  those  which  have  been  occa- 
sioned by  earthquakes.  Thousands,  who  but  a  few 
minutes  before  were  full  of  busy  life,  have  been  swallowed 
up  as  if  they  had  never  existed,  or  crushed  to  death  by 
fragments  of  falling  buildings. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  1755,  Lisbon  was  visited  by 
the  most  tremendous  earthquake  that  has  been  known  in 
modern  times.  It  happened  to  be  a  festival  day.  The 
churches  were  lighted  up,  and  particularly  crowded ; 
when,  suddenly,  a  sound  was  heard  like  thunder,  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  earth,  and  before  the  terrified  inhabitants 
could  conjecture  what  was  going  to  happen,  a  violent 
shock  threw  down  the  greater  part  of  their  city,  burying 
more  than  60,000  of  them  in  the  ruins :  and  for  all  this 
the  space  of  six  minutes  was  sufficient !  It  is  impossible, 
in  so  small  a  picture  as  this,  to  give  a  just  idea  of  the  hor- 
rors of  such  a  scene. 


THE  EARTHQUAKE  AT  LISBON.  53 

By  this  time  the  sea  was  violently  agitated,  and,  after 
sweeping  back  so  as  to  leave  the  bar  almost  dry,  it  came 
swelling  and  rushing  with  tremendous  force  towards  the 
devoted  city,  and  rising  more  than  fifty  feet  above  its 
usual  level.  Close  to  the  water  was  a  large  marble  quay, 
upon  which  great  numbers  of  the  survivors  had  crowded 
for  safety,  when  (as  if  there  was  to  be  no  refuge  for  those 
against  whom  this  awful  doom  had  gone  forth)  the  quay 
went  down  ;  and  all  that  agony  of  hopes  and  fears,  and 
of  horror  unspeakable,  vanished  in  a  moment,  and  not 
a  trace  of  the  quay,  or  of  those  who  had  flown  to  it  for 
shelter,  was  ever  seen  afterwards. 

Those  who  had  hurried  into  boats  on  the  Tagus  met 
with  no  happier  fate  ;  they  sunk  in  the  whirlpool  occa- 
sioned by  the  earthquake. 

Lisbon  has  never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  dis- 
aster ;  the  few  handsome  streets  which  have  been  rebuilt 
only  seem  to  show,  in  more  melancholy  contrast,  the  heaps 
of  rubbish  and  ruins  which  were  left  ninety  years  ago ; 
and  the  imposing  appearance  of  palaces,  churches,  and 
convents,  which  rise  above  the  quays  on  approaching 
the  city  from  the  river,  creates  a  delusion  which  quickly 
fades  away  when  the  badly-paved  and  dirty  streets  offend 
the  eye  of  the  traveller.  To  complete  his  disgust,  he 


54  THE  EARTHQUAKE  AT  LISBON. 

is  almost  sickened  with  pestilential  effluvia,  and  annoyed 
by  swarms  of  dogs  of  every  breed,  with  which  the  streets 
of  Lisbon  are  as  much  infested  as  those  of  Corinth  or  Con- 
stantinople. 

Notwithstanding  the  efforts  which  some  influential  peo- 
ple have  made  to  restore  their  city,  so  as  to  justify  its  an- 
cient name  of  "  Felicitas  Julia,"  the  greater  part  of  it  must 
still  retain  its  reputation  for  want  of  decency  and  cleanli- 
ness : — the  imperfect  lighting  of  the  streets,  the  want  of 
sewerage,  and  the  extreme  indolence  of  the  Portuguese,  all 
combine  to  give  it  this  most  undesirable  celebrity. 

Their  government  is  bad,  and  there  is  a  total  want  of 
education  among  the  lower  orders.  Mr.  Semple  describes 
them  as  "  a  meager  race,  generally  clothed  in  rags,  and 
filthy  beyond  endurance." 

The  aristocratic  Portuguese  are  more  grave,  reserved, 
and  proud  than  their  neighbors  the  Spaniards,  against 
whom,  as  a  nation,  they  entertain  a  profound  antipathy ; 
but,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said,  many  redeem- 
ing features  are  to  be  found  among  the  more  enlightened 
and  refined  circles  in  Lisbon. 

Lord  Byron's  description  appears  admirably  just : — 

"  Whoso  entereth  this  town 
That,  sheening  far,  celestial  seems  to  be, 


THE  EARTHQUAKE  AT  LISBON.  55 

Disconsolate  will  wander  up  and  down 
'Mid  many  things  unsightly  to  strange  'ee  ; 
For  hut  and  palace  show  like  filthily. 
The  dingy  denizens  are  rear'd  in  dirt  ; 
Ne  personage  of  high  or  mean  degree 
Doth  care  for  cleanness  of  surtout  or  shirt, 
Tho'  shent  with  Egypt's  plague,  unkempt,  unwash'd  ;  unhurt." 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA. 

MODERN  Italy  abounds  in  relics  of  antiquity — memorials, 
more  or  less  entire,  of  a  time  when  she  was  mistress  of  the 
world.  Now,  oppressed  by  foreign  intruders,  and  degraded 
by  native  superstition,  her  children  seek  for  consolation  by 
turning  to  the  glories  of  their  ancestors,  and  thirst  for  the 
time  when  their  beautiful  country  may  again  take  her 
proper  station  amidst  the  nations  of  Europe.  The  Roman, 
as  he  treads  the  ruins  of  the  Forum,  listens  in  fancy  to  the 
eloquence  of  Cicero ;  he  paces  the  gigantic  round  of  the 
Coliseum,  and  its  now  ruined  and  deserted  walls  appear, 
to  his  fervid  imagination,  crowded  with  the  myriads  eager 
to  witness  the  contests  of  wild  beasts,  or  the  dying  strug- 
gles of  the  gladiator. 

The  lively  Neapolitan  descends  to  the  buried  remains 
of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  where  are  brought  visibly 
before  him  the  domestic  manners  of  his  ancestors :  he  sees 
the  preparations  for  the  meal  that  was  never  tasted  ;  he 
visits  the  dungeon  of  the  prisoner  whose  doom  was  pro- 
nounced by  no  mortal  judge  ;  and  his  thoughtless  levity  is 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA.  57 

for  a  while  sobered  by  the  thought  that  the  fires  of  Vesu- 
vius are  yet  unquenched,  and  that  his  own  bright  city 
may  one  day  share  the  fate  of  those  before  him,  and  like 
them,  after  centuries  of  burial,  be  restored  to  the  wonder 
and  curiosity  of  some  later  age. 

The  glory  of  Verona  is  its  amphitheatre,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  striking  relics  of  the  grandeur  of  the  ancient 
Romans.  The  time  of  its  erection  cannot  be  accurately 
ascertained,  as  there  is  no  inscription  remaining  on  its 
walls  to  guide  the  decision  of  the  antiquary ;  nor  has  it 
been  referred  to  by  any  classical  writer  whose  works  have 
descended  to  us.  Except  the  Coliseum  at  Rome,  it  is  the 
largest  existing  edifice  of  the  kind,  being  nearly  1500  feet, 
or  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  circumference.  The 
arena,  (the  level  space  seen  in  the  cut,)  within  the  benches, 
is  249  feet  across  its  longer,  and  146  feet  across  its  shorter 
diameter  ;  for,  like  other  buildings  of  its  class,  it  is  not 
circular,  but  elliptic,  or  oval.  From  the  outer  edge  of  the 
arena  to  the  outside  walls,  is  about  2GO  feet,  and  it  is  cal- 
culated that  the  seats  which  occupy  this  space  would  ac- 
commodate 22,000  spectators. 

The  outer  wall  contained  four  stories  of  arches,  and 
there  were  seventy-two  arches  in  each  story  ;  of  these, 
one  fragment,  containing  three  stories,  of  four  arches 


58  THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA. 

each,  and  rising  to  the  height  of  100  feet,  is  all  that 
remains — to  the  top  of  the  fourth  story  would,  no  doubt, 
have  exceeded  120  feet.  The  modern  Veronese  have,  at 
different  periods,  repaired  the  interior  of  the  amphitheatre, 
and  the  seats  are  in  tolerable  preservation.  When  the 
French,  under  Napoleon,  had  possession  of  Verona,  they 
erected  in  the  arena  a  wooden  theatre,  for  the  amusement 
of  the  soldiers  and  citizens  ;  and  this  characteristic  monu- 
ment of  French  taste  still  remains.  It  will  be  seen  that 
this  amphitheatre  is  open  to  the  sky.  This  was  the  case 
in  ancient  Greece  and  Italy,  with  all  the  buildings  intend- 
ed for  public  concourse,  and  the  beautiful  climate  of  those 
countries  allowed  such  a  practice  without  material  incon- 
venience. The  games  and  spectacles  of  ancient  Greece 
and  Rome  were  generally  more  or  less  of  a  religious 
character,  and  were  accompanied  with  sacrifices  to  their 
gods.  Among  these  two  nations,  in  the  brighter  periods 
of  their  history,  there  was  a  considerable  diffusion  of  in- 
telligence ;  and  yet,  (the  art  of  printing  being  unknown  to 
them,)  books  were  a  luxury  forbidden  to  all  but  the  few — 
the  rich,  the  noble,  and  the  wise.  Hence,  with  a  greater 
zest,  the  Greeks  and  Romans  of  antiquity,  with  minds 
earnest,  active,  and  excitable,  crowded  in  throngs,  to 
which  modern  times  have  few  parallels,  to  all  places  of 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA.  59 

public  resort.  The  public  games  were  frequented  by 
every  class  and  every  age  : — the  philosopher  went  to 
lecture  and  to  argue  ;  the  demagogue  to  declaim  ;  the 
athlete  to  exhibit  his  own  prowess  ;  the  equestrian  that 
of  his  steeds  ;  the  magistrate  to  preside  and  to  appor- 
tion the  prizes  ;  and  all  the  world  to  see,  to  hear,  or  to 
exhibit. 

To  accommodate  crowds  so  immense,  buildings  must  be 
proportionate ;  and  hence,  among  other  causes,  were  the 
skill,  the  taste,  the  power,  and  the  riches  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  concentrated  to  erect  and  to  adorn 
edifices,  many  of  which,  like  the  amphitheatre  of  Verona, 
still  exist  to  delight  and  to  astonish  succeeding  ages. 

At  the  Roman  exhibitions  was  often  squandered,  in 
a  few  days,  the  annual  revenue  of  a  province,  wrung  by 
some  victorious  general  from  the  groans  and  tears  of  the 
conquered,  and  expended  to  win  the  favor  of  the  popu- 
lace, and  the  power  which  depended  on  their  suffrage. 
The  drama — races,  both  on  foot,  on  horseback,  and  in 
chariots — the  lights  of  wild  and  savage  beasts  from  dis- 
tant countries,  were  among  the  shows  that  drew  the 
immense  crowds  together  ;  but  of  all  the  exhibitions  of 
the  arena,  that  which  most  delighted  the  ancient  Italians 
was  the  combat  of  gladiators.  These  unhappy  men  were 


60  THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA. 

mostly  prisoners  of  war,  and  were  selected  for  their 
strength  and  courage  from  all  countries  overrun  by  the 
Roman  armies — from  Thrace,  from  the  banks  of  the 
Danube  and  the  Rhine,  from  the  forests  of  Germany  and 
Gaul,  from  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  from  the  burning 
soil  of  Africa.  Before  the  combat,  they  walked  round  the 
arena,  frequently  to  the  number  of  five  hundred  at  a  time, 
to  allow  the  spectators  to  judge  of  their  comparative 
strength,  stature,  and  agility ;  and  the  perfumed  exquisite 
and  the  delicate  matron  of  ancient  Italy,  equally  with  the 
rough  plebeian  and  the  veteran  inured  to  blood  in  many 
a  battle,  discussed  the  merits  of  each  exhibitor — his 
chance  of  victory,  and  betted  on  the  result  with  all  the 
gusto  of  a  modern  jockey.  Each  wretched  victim  was 
bound  by  solemn  oaths,  and  by  the  threat  of  fearful  tor- 
ments if  he  violated  them,  to  strive  for  victory  to  the  ut- 
most— either  to  slay,  or  to  be  slain. 

A  gladiator  worsted  in  the  deadly  fight,  might,  before 
the  death-blow  descended,  appeal  for  pity  to  the  spec- 
tators ;  but  often,  alas,  the  appeal  was  vain  !  If  his  skill 
and  prowess  had  not  satisfied  his  judges,  their  thumbs, 
bent  backward,  signified  that  he  must  die  ;  and  his 
brother  gladiator  durst  not,  for  his  own  life,  spare  his  fall- 
en foe — that  foe,  perhaps,  his  countryman  and  his  friend. 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA.         61 

"  I  see  before  me  the  gladiator  lie : 
He  leans  upon  his  hand  ;  his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conquers  agony, 
And  his  droop'd  head  sinks  gradually  low : 
And  through  his  sides  the  last  drops  ebbing  slow 
From  the  red  gash  fall  heavy,  one  by  one, 
Like  the  first  of  a  thunder-shower ;  and  now 
The  arena  swims  around  him — he  is  gone, 
Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  hail'd  the  wretch  who  won 

<(  He  heard  it,  but  he  heeded  not ;  his  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away. 
He  reck'd  not  of  the  life  he  lost,  nor  prize ; 
But  where  his  rude  hut  by  the  Danube  lay, 
There  were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play ; — 
There  was  the  Dacian  mother — he  their  sire 
Butcher'd,  to  make  a  Roman  holiday ! 
All  this  rush'd  with  his  blood.     Shall  he  expire  ? 
And  unavenged  ?     Arise,  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire  . 

To  the  honor  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  they  steadily  re- 
fused, from  motives  of  humanity,  to  imitate  their  Roman 
masters  by  introducing  this  barbarous  pastime. 

Gladiatorial  exhibitions  were  abolished  by  Constantine 
the  Great,  nearly  six  hundred  years  after  their  first  insti- 
tution. They  were,  however,  revived  under  the  Emperor 
Constantius  and  his  two  successors,  but  Honorius  at- 


62  THE  AMPHITHEATRE  OF  VERONA. 

tempted,  by  edict,  to  put  an  end  to  these  cruel  barbarities. 
In  spite  of  this,  however,  efforts  were  made  in  Italy  to 
restore  them  to  their  ancient  splendor,  when,  upon  one 
occasion,  a  noble  monk,  named  Telemachus,  entered  the 
arena  to  separate  the  combatants.  The  spectators,  en- 
raged at  the  interruption  of  their  favorite  pastime,  over- 
whelmed the  intrepid  monk  with  a  shower  of  stones. 
Hardly  was  the  murder  committed,  when  horror  and 
remorse  seized  the  perpetrators ;  the  feeling  of  shame  and 
repentance  spread,  and  the  martyrdom  of  Telemachus 
sealed  the  condemnation  of  gladiatorial  exhibitions,  and 
ensured  the  submission  of  the  people  to  the  imperial 
edict,  which  forever  abolished  the  human  sacrifices  of  the 
amphitheatre. 


THE  SEASONS. 

IN  our  Glimpses  of  the  Wonderful  last  year,  there  was 
a  chapter  on  Astronomy,  which  contained  a  brief  account 
of  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  comparative 
sizes  of  the  planets  in  our  solar  system,  and  an  allusion  to 
the  cause  of  the  changes  in  the  seasons.* 

Now,  lest  this  last  subject  should  not  be  fully  understood, 
we  had  better  pursue  it  a  little  further,  and  shall  be  as- 
sisted in  our  inquiries  by  the  accompanying  diagram,  in- 
tended to  show  the  earth's  position  with  respect  to  the  sun 
at  different  portions  of  the  year. 

Why,  then,  should  the  sun  give  more  heat  to  any  par- 
ticular portion  of  the  earth — say  to  our  island  of  Britain — 
at  one  time  of  the  year  than  it  does  at  another  ?  What 
makes  it  so  cold  here  in  December  and  January,  and  so 
warm  in  July  and  August  ?  It  might,  perhaps,  be  sup- 
posed that  the  earth  is  nearer  to  the  sun  in  summer,  and 
further  off  in  winter ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  astronomers 

*  Page  142. 


64  THE  SEASONS. 

have  proved  that  we  are  actually  nearly  three  millions  of 
miles  further  off  the  sun  at  our  hottest  portion  of  the  year 
than  we  are  at  our  coldest. 

Our  former  volume  briefly  alluded  to  the  reason  in  these 
words  : — "  Some  of  the  planets  do  not  move  round  the  sun 
in  a  perfectly  even  plane,  but  a  sloping  one,"  &c.,  &c. 
"  This  causes  the  difference  of  the  seasons,  without  which 
there  would  be  neither  summer  nor  winter,  but  the  year 
would  be  all  alike." 

Now,  look  at  the  diagram  ?  There  is  the  sun  in  the 
centre,  while  round  him, 

"  On  her  smooth  axle  spinning,  sleeps  the  earth." 

Now  this  axle,  of  course,  is  not  a  real  pole  stuck  through 
the  earth  like  a  knitting-pin  through  a  ball  of  worsted,  but 
is  merely  the  term  used  to  describe  the  part  of  a  revolving 
body  round  which  it  turns  itself.  Now,  we  might  spin  an 
ivory  ball  on  a  smooth,  level  table  in  such  a  manner  that 
it  would  not  leave  the  spot  on  which  it  was  first  placed, 
but  would  keep  turning  there  for  a  longer  or  a  shorter 
time,  in  proportion  to  the  impulse  first  given.  In  this  case 
the  ball  would  have  only  one  motion — that  of  revolving  on 
its  axis. 

Again,  we  might  roll  the  ball  from  one  part  of  the  table 


THE  SEASONS.  65 

to  another,  in  which  case  the  ball  would  have  two  motions 
— one,  as  before,  on  its  axis,  and  another  from  one  part  of 
the  table  to  another.  It  is  in  this  latter  way  that  the  plan- 
ets roll  round  the  sun  ;  but  the  position  of  the  axis  with 
respect  to  the  orbit,  or  course  round  the  sun,  varies  in  dif- 
ferent planets. 

Our  earth,  which  has  its  axis  slightly  slanted  from  the 
perpendicular,  turns  round  once  in  every  twenty-four 
hours,  during  which  each  part  of  its  surface  is  by  turns 
brought  towards  the  sun's  light,  and  then  gradually  rolled 
away  from  it  into  the  shadow  of  night.  Besides  thus  turn- 
ing round  on  its  axis,  it  rolls  round  the  sun  in  a  little  more 
than  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days — that  is,  while  it 
is  going  once  round  the  sun,  it  turns  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  times  round  itself,  or,  as  it  was  before  explained, 
round  its  axis. 

Well,  then,  we  see  the  axis  of  the  earth  (represented  by 
a  straight  line  running  from  N.  to  S.)  in  four  positions  with 
respect  to  the  sun.  In  each  of  the  four  positions,  N.  (or 
the  North  Pole)  slants  towards  the  right  hand,  or  the  East ; 
and  S.  (or  the  South  Pole)  towards  the  left  hand,  or  the 
West.  Now,  when  the  earth  is  at  D,  we  may  see  that 
the  North  Pole  is  slanted  away  from  the  sun  ;  when  at  B. 
it  is  slanted  towards  him,  and  the  South  Pole  the  contrary 

5 


66  THE  SEASONS. 

in  each  case.  At  A  and  C  each  pole  receives  an  equal 
portion  of  the  sun's  light  during  the  day,  and  is  equally 
in  darkness  for  the  night ;  the  night  and  the  day  being  at 
these  two  periods  of  equal  length,  namely,  twelve  hours 
each,  all  over  the  world.  Now,  we  all  know  that  in  Eng- 
land, during  the  latter  part  of  June,  the  days  are  at  the 
longest :  the  sun  rises  soon  after  three  o'clock  ;  at  mid-day 
he  is  high  over  head  ;  and  he  does  not  disappear  till  nearly 
ten  o'clock,  and  it  is  hardly  dark  all  night.  And  if,  at  this 
time  of  the  year,  we  went  still  further  north — for  instance, 
to  Sweden,  we  should  find  the  days  still  longer,  and  the 
nights  still  shorter  than  in  England.  Further  north  still, 
as  in  Lapland  or  Iceland,  we  should  have  no  night  at  all, 
but  the  sun  would  continue  above  the  horizon  for  many 
days  together ;  that  is,  for  many  revolutions  of  the  earth 
on  its  axis.  On  the  other  hand,  at  the  very  same  time  of 
the  year,  namely,  the  latter  end  of  June,  the  South  Pole  is 
slanted  away  from  the  sun,  as  much  as  the  North  Pole  is 
slanted  towards  it,  and  instead  of  there  being  no  darkness 
there,  there  is  no  daylight.  Figure  B  shows  the  position 
of  the  earth  with  respect  to  the  sun  on  the  21st  of  June, 
which  is  the  longest  day  in  the  northern,  and  the  shortest 
day  in  the  southern  hemisphere.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
21st  of  December  is  the  shortest  day  in  our  northern  hemi- 


THE  SEASONS.  67 

sphere,  and  the  longest  in  the  southern  ;  and,  on  that  day, 
the  earth  is  placed  with  respect  to  the  sun  as  at  figure  D, 
with  the  South  Pole  slanting  towards  the  sun,  and  the 
North  Pole  away  from  it.  Figures  A  and  C  show  the  po- 
sition of  the  earth  at  about  the  21st  of  March  and  the 
23d  of  September,  when  the  day  and  night  are  equal  all 
over  the  world,  whether  north  or  south  of  the  equator, 
each  being  of  course  twelve  hours  long.  These  periods 
are  named  the  Vernal  (or  Spring)  and  the  Autumnal  Equi- 
nox ;  only,  when  it  is  autumn  with  us,  (in  September,) 
and  the  days  are  becoming  shorter,  it  is  Spring,  and  the 
days  are  becoming  longer  in  South  America,  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  in  Australia,  and  New  Zealand,  and  other 
parts  of  the  southern  hemisphere. 

Now,  perhaps,  you  may  have  remarked  that,  in  general, 
the  shortest  day  is  not  the  coldest,  nor  is  the  longest  day 
the  hottest  in  the  year :  according  to  the  old  proverb, 

.  "  As  the  day  lengthens, 

The  cold  strengthens." 

A  little  reflection  will  suggest  the  reason  of  this.  On 
our  shortest  day,  the  sun,  besides  shining  on  us  for  only 
five  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four,  does  not  rise  so  high 
above  us  at  noon  as  he  does  by  six  o'clock  in  the  morning 
at  midsummer — his  rays,  instead  of  pouring  down  direct 


68  THE  SEASONS. 

upon  our  part  of  the  earth,  and  penetrating  its  surface, 
slant  off,  just  as  an  arrow  or  cannon-ball,  which  strikes 
any  object  obliquely,  will  either  glance  off,  or,  if  it  pene- 
trate at  all,  will  do  so  to  a  much  less  depth  than  if  thrown 
with  the  same  force  so  as  to  strike  directly,  or  in  a  direc- 
tion perpendicular  to  the  surface  struck.  That  part  of  the 
earth  which  is  under  these  circumstances,  loses  every  night 
more  heat  than  it  has  acquired  during  the  day,  and  con- 
tinues to  do  so  for  some  time  after  the  days  have  begun  to 
lengthen  and  the  nights  to  decrease :  and  the  greatest  de- 
gree of  cold  in  England  is  generally  experienced  during 
the  second  or  third  week  of  January,  or  nearly  a  mouth 
after  the  shortest  day.  After  that  period,  as  the  sun  daily 
shines  upon  us  longer  and  rises  higher,  the  snow  and  the 
ice  gradually  melt  under  his  influence  ;  the  earth,  during 
the  night,  gradually  retains  more  and  more  of  the  heat 
that  it  has  acquired  during  the  day,  until  the  buds  and 
flowers  of  spring  burst  upon  us  in  all  their  beauty.  The 
heating  process  still  continues  to  go  on ;  the  earth,  for 
some  weeks  after  the  longest  day,  retains,  during  the 
night,  some  of  the  heat  it  has  acquired  during  the  day, 
and  the  summer  is  in  its  full  glow  during  the  last  days  of 
July  and  the  early  part  of  August. 

In  our  country,  which  has  a  proverbially  changeable 


THE  SEASONS.  69 

climate,  arising  chiefly  from  its  insular  situation,  there  is  a 
considerable  irregularity  in  the  seasons — chilly  days  some- 
times occurring  in  the  midst  of  summer,  and  mild  days 
during  the  depth  of  winter ;  but,  in  some  portions  of  the 
earth,  much  greater  regularity  in  this  respect  takes  place. 
In  the  tropics,  the  setting  in  of  the  rainy  season  can  be 
foretold  almost  to  a  day. 

The  wonderful  and  beautiful  means  which  the  All-wise 
and  All-merciful  Creator  has  employed  in  bringing  about 
the  changes  of  the  seasons,  can  be  but  slightly  glanced  at 
here  ;  but  all  can  feel  their  influence  and  appreciate  their 
effects.  Who  does  not  see,  with  all  the  joy  of  hope,  how 
gradually  spring  brightens  into  summer  ?  Who  is  there 
that  has  not  indulged  the  pensive  pleasures  of  memory  as 
autumn  slowly  fades  into  winter  ?  But  not  the  less  of 
wisdom  and  beauty  is  there  in  the  rougher  moods  of  na- 
ture. Consider  how,  first  the  formation,  and  then  the 
melting,  of  snow  and  ice,  soften  the  ground,  break  up  the 
hard  clods  of  the  valley,  and  prepare  it  for  the  coming 
spring — how  the  blustering  winds  of  March  dispel  the 
damps  and  mists  that  hang  about  the  earth,  and,  as  they 
swing  to  and  fro,  the  yet  leafless  trees  of  the  forest  shake 
off  the  dead  and  cankerous  boughs,  that  would  impede 
the  growth  and  vigor  of  the  bursting  buds — how  the 


70  THE  SEASONS. 

thunder-storms  of  autumn,  and  the  keen  blasts  of  winter, 
purify  the  air,  destroy  noxious  insects,  and,  by  checking  a 
too  luxurious  growth,  give  vigor  to  all  life,  animal  and 
vegetable  ! 

On  every  hand,  a  thousand  thousand  wonders  and 
beauties  meet  the  intelligent  inquirer.  The  merest  child 
may  readily  -be  made  to  understand  some  of  them,  and 
learn  how  good  God  is  to  his  creatures.  The  wisest  man 
on  earth  may  find,  at  every  step,  new  beauties  and  new 
wonders  open  before  him,  of  which  he  was  before  igno- 
rant, and  may  continually  find  fresh  cause  of  wonder  and 
admiration — fresh  cause  to  feel,  with  the  great  Newton, 
that  he,  with  all  his  knowledge,  is  but  a  little  child,  who 
has  picked  up  a  few  shells  on  the  shore  of  the  great  ocean 
of  truth. 

"  Oh,  God  !  Oh,  good  beyond  compare  ! 
If  thus  Thy  meaner  works  are  fair — 
If  thus  Thy  bounty  gilds  the  span 
Of  ruined  life,  ordained  to  man, 
How  glorious  must  those  mansions  be 
Where  Thy  redeem'd  will  dwell  with  Thee  !" 

In  looking  at  astronomical  diagrams,  we  should  remem- 
ber that,  after  all,  the  best  and  most  accurate  can  give  but 


THE  SEASONS.  71 

a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  of  the  enormous  distances  at  which,  when 
compared  even  to  that  magnitude,  they  are  placed  from 
each  other.  Sir  John  Herschel  has  given  a  familiar  but 
striking  illustration  of  the  comparative  sizes  and  distances 
of  the  bodies  in  our  solar  system,  which  we  can  hardly  do 
better  than  insert  here  : — *'  Choose  any  well-levelled  field 
or  bowling-green.  On  it  place  a  globe,  two  feet  in  diam- 
eter: this  will  represent  the  Sun.  Mercury  will  be  repre- 
sented by  a  grain  of  mustard-seed  on  the  circumference 
of  a  circle,  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  in  diameter, 
for  its  orbit ;  Venus,  a  pea,  on  a  circle  two  hundred  and 
eighty-four  feet  in  diameter  ;  the  Earth,  also  a  pea,  on  a 
circle  of  four  hundred  and  thirty  feet ;  Mars,  a  rather 
large  pin's  head,  on  a  circle  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-four 
feet ;  Juno,  Ceres,  Pallas,  and  Vesta,  grains  of  sand,  in 
orbits  of  from  one  thousand  to  one  thousand  two  hundred 
feet ;  Jupiter,  a  moderately  sized  orange,  on  a  circle  near- 
ly half-a-mile  across  ;  Saturn,  a  small  orange,  on  a  circle 
of  four-fifths  of  a  mile  ;  and  Uranus,  a  full-sized  cherry  or 
small  plum,  on  the  circumference  of  a  circle  more  than  a 
mile  and  a  half  in  diameter.  To  imitate  the  motions  of 
the  planets  in  their  orbits,  Mercury  must  pass  through  a 
space  equal  to  its  diameter  in  forty-one  seconds  ;  Venus, 


72  THE  SEASONS. 

in  four  minutes,  fourteen  seconds  ;  the  Earth,  in  seven 
minutes  ;  Mars,  in  four  minutes,  forty-eight  seconds  ;  Ju- 
piter, in  two  hours,  fifty-six  minutes  ;  Saturn,  in  three 
hours,  thirteen  minutes  ;  and  Uranus,  in  five  hours,  sixteen 
minutes." 

"  It  may  assist  us,"  says  Dr.  Carpenter,  "  in  comparing 
this  miniature  representation  with  the  reality,  if  we  re- 
member that  the  pigmy  globe  of  two  feet  in  diameter  must 
be  expanded  into  a  sphere  of  nearly  nine  hundred  thousand 
miles  in  diameter,  or  to  two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
forty-eight  and  a  half  million  times  its  size.  What,  then, 
must  be  the  orbit  of  Uranus  ?  And  yet  the  whole  of  this 
vast  system  is  but  a  point  in  the  universe,  no  larger,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  inhabitants  (if  such  there  be)  of  the 
nearest  of  the  fixed  stars,  than  the  smallest  of  the  satel- 
lites of  Saturn  or  Uranus  appears  to  us." 


THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA. 

To  him  who  has  seen  the  mighty  waters  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere,  our  British  lakes  and  streams  would,  but  for 
the  halo  thrown  around  their  names  by  the  genii  of  his- 
tory, poetry,  and  romance,  shrink  into  insignificance. 

In  a  map  of  the  world,  which,  with  nice  distinctness, 
and  all  the  accuracy  of  "  the  latest  discoveries,"  outlines 
the  coasts  of  the  great  Canadian  lakes,  and  follows  the 
windings  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  their  mighty  outlet  to  the 
mightier  ocean,  we  must  look  narrowly  for  some  short 
line  meant  to  point  out  the  course  of  our  "  royal-towered 
Thames."  There  our  "  Severn  swift"  appears  too  small 
to  drown  a  fly  ;  while  Trent, 

"  That  like  some  earth-born  giant  spreads 
His  thirsty  arms  along  the  indented  meads," 

has  probably  escaped   the   engraver's   touch   altogether. 

The    beauties    of  Windermere    and   Ullswater,  and   the 

• 

sterner  glories  of  Loch  Lomond,  if  they  appear  at  all,  ap- 
pear but  as  microscopic  spots,  too  minute  for  any  distinc- 
tion of  form  or  direction. 


74  THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA. 

But  let  us  direct  our  attention  to  a  map  of  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  great  continent  of  America.  See 
how  deeply  is  its  coast  indented  with  bays  and  inlets — 
how,  from  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  shores  of  Labrador  and 
Newfoundland  in  the  east,  to  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains in  the  "  far  west,"  the  surface  of  the  country  is  stud- 
ded with  lakes  of  every  variety  of  form  and  size — and 
what  a  net-work  of  streams  connects  these  with  each 
other,  and  with  the  main  ocean  !  Let  us,  in  fancy,  ascend 
the  ridge  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  northern  extremity 
of  that  vast  chain,  which,  under  various  names,  runs 
southward  for  nine  thousand  miles,  throughout  the  length 
of  the  two  western  continents,  until  it  sinks  into  the  ocean 
depths,  amid  the  frowning  desolation  of  Terra  del  Fuego. 

Clouds,  from  the  waters  of  the  Pacific,  gather  around  the 
summits  where  we  stand ;  they  roll  down  the  eastern  side 
of  the  range,  and,  descending  into  the  plains  at  our  feet, 
in  snow,  and  mist,  and  rain,  they  form  and  feed  the  count- 
less waters  which  lie  between  us  and  the  Atlantic.  Down 
many  a  cascade  they  leap — they  flow  through  many  a 
winding  river,  and  widen  into  many  a  lake,  until  they  are 
poured  into  that  mighty  mass  of  waters,  broad  and  deep, 
known  pre-eminently  as  the  "  Great  Lakes"  of  Canada. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  these,  with  the  St.  Law- 


.       THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA.  75 

rence,  by  which  their  waters  flow  into  the  Atlantic, 
contain  one-third  of  all  the  fresh  water  on  the  globe — at 
any  rate  they  form  by  far  the  largest  connected  body  of 
fresh  water  on  its  surface.  The  large  inland  seas  of  the 
old  world — the  Caspian,  the  Euxine,  the  Mediterranean, 
and  the  Baltic,  are  all  nearly  as  salt  as  the  ocean  itself. 
The  cause  of  this  difference  has  been  variously  stated  ; 
but,  however  interesting,  it  would  lead  us  into  too  wide  a 
range  of  subjects  for  discussion  here. 

The  three  higher  lakes — Superior,  Michigan,  and  Hu- 
ron, together  cover  an  extent  of  fifty-eight  thousand 
square  miles,  and  their  average  depth  is  about  nine  hun- 
dred feet.  Erie,  which  forms  the  next  outlet  towards  the 
sea,  is  much  shallower ;  its  mean  depth  being  only  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  this  depth  has  been  gradu- 
ally decreasing ;  so  that  it  is  almost  certain,  that  in  the 
course  of  years,  what  is  now  the  basin  of  the  lake  will  be 
filled  up,  presenting,  instead  of  its  present  broad  sheet  of 
water,  a  fertile  alluvial  plain,  watered  by  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  its  tributary  rivers,  which  would  then  connect 
the  lakes  Huron  and  Ontario  by  a  stream  of  between  two 
hundred  and  three  hundred  miles  in  length. 

At  the  northeastern  end  of  Erie,  its  shores  approach, 
until  they  leave  an  outlet  of  only  three  quarters  of  a  mile 


76  THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA. 

in  width.  Through  this  narrow  passage,  then,  are  poured 
the  superabundant  waters  of  the  four  great  lakes,  rapidly 
at  first ;  until  the  rocks  again  recede,  and  leave  a  wider 
course  for  the  river,  which  then  flows  swiftly,  but 
smoothly  on  for  about  twenty  miles.  At  this  part  of 
its  course  the  stream  again  rushes  tumultuously  down  a 
succession  of  rapids,  which  are  about  a  mile  across,  and 
twenty-five  feet  deep ;  and  then,  divided  by  Goat  Island, 
at  the  very  verge  of  the  stupendous  cataract,  whose  cease- 
less roar  is  heard  afar  off,  the  river,  in  two  broad  sheets, 
leaps  down  a  precipice  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  sheer 
into  the  gulf  below.  A  cloud  of  spray  rises  high  above  the 
woody  banks  that  overhang  the  gulf,  in  whose  depths  the 
waters,  as  if  maddened  and  giddy  with  their  awful  leap, 
whirl,  and  eddy,  and  toss,  and  at  length  again  pour  on- 
wards in  milk-white  foam. 

But  no  words  can  describe  the  terrific  beauty  of  the 
scene.  The  traveller,  on  first  beholding  it,  is  lost  and  be- 
wildered :  he  visits  it  again  and  again,  in  hopes  to  become 
familiar  with  its  glories ;  he  looks  at  it  from  every  ap- 
proachable point  of  view.  New  beauties  delight  him — 
new  wonders  appal  him  at  every  step.  From  the  dizzy 
table-rock  that  overhangs  the  fall,  he  gazes,  clinging  con- 
vulsively, into  the  depths  below :  he  descends  the  crags, 


THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA.  77 

slippery  with  the  ceaseless  spray,  creeps  beneath  the 
water-worn  rocks,  behind  the  very  cataract  itself,  and 
gazes  upward  into  the  emerald  twilight  that  struggles 
through  the  dread  cavern  of  rushing  water.  At  length, 
awe-struck,  and  yet  unsated  by  the  sight,  he  leaves  the 
spot,  and  vainly  strives,  by  all  the  efforts  of  pen  and  pen- 
cil, to  impart  to  others  the  glories  and  the  wonders  with 
which  his  own  soul  is  overpowered. 

In  descriptions  of  scenes  like  these,  it  depends  upon  the 
mind  of  the  reader  whether  facts  of  a  statistical  nature  re- 
pel or  attract  the  imagination — whether  they  give  force 
and  clearness  to  the  ideas,  or  weary  and  distract  the  atten- 
tion. I  will,  therefore,  only  mention,  that  in  the  Falls  of 
Niagara  it  is  calculated  that  upwards  of  one  million  of 
tons  of  water  are  every  minute  precipitated  for  a  depth  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy  feet ;  and  refer  such  of  my  read- 
ers as  may  wish  for  further  particulars  respecting  this 
king  of  cataracts,  to  the  works  of  some  of  the  many  trav- 
ellers who  have,  within  the  last  few  years,  visited  and 
described  it. 

The  cut  represents  an  incident  which  took  place  in  1836, 
at  which  time  Canada  was  in  a  very  unsettled  state.  The 
inhabitants  of  Lower  Canada  are  principally  of  French 
origin,  and  retain,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  manners, 


78  THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA. 

language,  and  customs  of  their  Norman  ancestors,  un- 
changed, since  the  day  when  General  Wolfe  conquered 
Montcalm  on  the  heights  above  Quebec,  and  the  province 
was  lost  to  France.  Upper  Canada  has  been  settled,  at  a 
more  recent  period,  by  emigrants  from  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  The  two  provinces,  though  both  subject  to  the 
British  crown,  were  governed  by  different  laws.  The  two 
races  of  men  were  at  once  jealous  of  each  other,  and  dis- 
satisfied with  the  mode  in  which  they  were  governed  by 
the  deputies  of  a  distant  sovereign ;  and  both  colonies  be- 
came a  scene  of  heart-burning,  recrimination,  and  strife, 
until  an  open  rebellion  against  the  British  government 
broke  out. 

In  Upper  Canada,  the  insurgents,  headed  by  Mackenzie, 
obtained  possession  of  Navy  Island,  which  is  situated 
about  five  miles  above  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  They  forti- 
fied it,  and  obtained  supplies  of  arms  and  provisions  from 
the  United  States  territory,  in  which  considerable  numbers 
along  the  border  co-operated  with  them,  under  the  name 
of  Sympathizers ;  calculating  that  Canada  was  about 
to  throw  off  the  dominion  of  the  proud  little  island  be- 
yond the  Atlantic,  and  to  form  one  of  the  states  of  the 
Union.  For  this,  however,  the  event  proved  that  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  population  of  Canada  was  yet  pre- 


THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA.  79 

pared,  and  the  insurgents  received  but  little  encourage- 
ment from  their  fellow-colonists,  who  were  still,  for  the 
most  part,  disposed  to  retain  their  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown,  and  raised  volunteer  regiments  to  co-operate  with 
the  regular  soldiers  in  opposing  the  progress  of  the  re- 
bellion throughout  the  province. 

In  the  mean  time  constant  communications  were  kept 
up  between  the  possessors  of  Navy  Island  and  their 
friends  on  the  American  shore  ;  and  it  was  believed  by 
the  British,  that  the  Caroline  steamboat  was  hired  by 
Mackenzie  to  carry  arms  and  ammunition  from  Buffalo,  a 
distance  of  about  twelve  miles  down  the  river,  to  Navy 
Island.  After  having  made  one  or  two  trips,  the  Caroline 
was  one  evening  moored  alongside  the  wharf  at  Buffalo,  - 
in  readiness  for  service  on  the  morrow.  It  was  a  still, 
frosty  night,  and  the  ripple  of  the  water  against  the  ves- 
sel's side  mingled  soothingly  with  the  distant  roar  of  Nia- 
gara, and  lulled  to  sleep  the  crew  of  the  ill-fated  vessel. 
Suddenly,  through  the  darkness,  boats  shot  alongside  the 
Caroline,  armed  men  climbed  hastily  and  tumultuously  to 
her  decks,  and,  after  a  brief  struggle,  overpowered  those 
on  board,  before  their  allies  on  shore  could  interfere.  The 
ropes  that  moored  the  vessel  to  the  wharf  were  cut,  and 
she  was  quickly  towed  into  the  middle  of  the  river;  and, 

X 


80  THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA. 

in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  the  tale,  the  Caroline, 
borne  along  by  the  force  of  the  stream,  was  swiftly  gliding 
onward  towards  the  Falls. 

On  both  sides  of  the  river  the  sleeping  population, 
roused  by  the  struggle,  hastened  to  the  shore  to  watch  the 
onward  progress  of  the  ill-fated  vessel.  Now,  broadside 
to  the  stream,  she  glided  on,  distinct  in  the  still  moon- 
light— then,  whirled  round  by  some  eddy,  her  course  was 
stayed,  as  if  in  a  convulsive  struggle  to  escape — then,  on 
again,  faster  and  faster  yet,  past  the  silent  woods — under 
the  dark  shadow  of  the  bold  headland — and  then,  emerging 
into  the  moonlight,  she  rushed  madly  into  the  rapids  that 
precede  the  fatal  plunge.  As  she  neared  Goat  Island, 
midway  in  the  stream,  at  the  very  verge  of  the  cataract, 
she  glided  into  the  fearful  "torrent's  smoothness  ere  it 
leap  below ;"  while  the  spectators  forgot  their  shouts, 
either  of  triumph  or  of  rage,  and  held  their  breath  for  very 
awe.  One  moment  more,  and  the  fatal  plunge  is  taken 
into  the  dark  abyss  ;  and  then,  struggling  and  whirling 
from  out  the  chaos  of  waters — planks  and  beams  splin- 
tered, and  torn,  and  broken,  are  all  that  remain  of  the 
Caroline. 

Where  were  the  crew  ?  Was  any  human  being  on 
board,  alive  or  dead  ?  Were  any  slain  in  the  struggle  that 


THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA.  81 

preceded  the  capture  ?  Such  were  the  questions  asked 
and  answered,  with  all  the  exaggeration  and  rancor  of 
party  and  national  excitement ;  and  a  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America  appeared  for  a 
time  inevitable.  Happily  for  both  nations,  this  was 
averted.  There  existed  among  both  people  sufficient  men 
of  good  sense  and  good  feeling  to  overpower  the  folly  and 
wickedness  of  those  who  would  force,  into  all  the  horrors 
of  war  and  bloodshed,  two  nations  of  kindred  blood,  speak- 
ing the  same  language  and  professing  the  same  faith; 
and,  after  anxious  months  of  excitement,  the  popular  feel- 
ing gradually  subsided,  and  peace  was  maintained. 

McLeod,  a  British  subject,  who  had  been  active  in  the 
seizure  and  destruction  of  the  Caroline,  imprudently 
ventured  into  the  United  States  territory  before  the  excite- 
ment had  abated.  He  was  recognised,  arrested,  and  im- 
prisoned, on  a  charge  of  murder  and  rqbbery,  The  trial 
excited  great  interest,  but  ended  in  his  acquittal,  greatly 
to  the  credit  of  his  judges,  who  would  not  suffer  their 
national  feelings  to  overpower  tl^eir  sense  of  law  and 
right. 


THE  DIAMOND. 

IT  is  somewhat  difficult  to  give  a  perfectly  satisfactory 
reason  why  mankind  should  attach  so  high  a  value  to  the 
diamond.  We  may  mention  its  brilliancy  when  polished, 
its  hardness,  and  its  rarity;  but  the  possession  of  these 
properties  to  any  conceivable  extent,  seems  hardly  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  the  enormous  sums  which  have  been 
given  for  a  stone,  of  which  the  largest  known  specimen  in 
existence  weighs  only  eleven  ounces.  For  instance,  the 
Pitt  diamond  was  purchased  by  the  Regent  Duke  of  Orleans 
for  £135,000  ;  the  Pigott  diamond  was  valued  at  £40,000  ; 
that  of  the  Queen  of  Portugal,  weighing  eleven  ounces, 
has  been  valued  at  £425,000  ;  and  the  gem  in  the  sceptre 
of  the  Russian  empire,  about  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg, 
was  bought  for  nearly  £150,000. 

It  is  true,  that  the  value  of  gold  and  silver  (and  indeed 
of  every  thing  else)  is  equally  dependent  on  their  compar- 
ative rarity ;  but  those  metals,  being  in  constant  use  as 
universal  and  most  convenient  media  of  exchange,  and 
standards  of  comparative  value  for  all  other  articles,  the 


THE  DIAMOND.  83 

estimation  in  which  they  are  held  seems  less  capricious 
and  artificial. 

And  after  all,  what  is  a  diamond  ?  Nothing  but  a  piece 
of  crystallized  carbon.  And  if — as  seems  not  at  all  im- 
possible— some  fortunate  chemist  should  succeed  in  thus 
imitating  the  process  of  nature,  by  subjecting  charcoal  or 
carbon  to  some  process  which  shall  cause  crystallization, 
we  may  have  diamonds  worth  but  little  more  than  bits  of 
very  fine  glass.  Till  then,  however,  this  gem  will  proba- 
bly retain  its  place  in  the  estimation  of  the  royal,  the 
noble,  and  the  wealthy — will  still  flash  around  the  diademed 
brows  of  sovereigns,  and  descend,  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration, with  the  other  ancestral  honors  of  the  peerage — 
the  deer-stocked  park,  the  princely  mansion,  with  its  sur- 
rounding woods,  and  the  rent-roll  of  a  province. 

Diamonds  have  been  principally  found  in  India  and  the 
Brazils.  The  mine  of  Golconda  in  India,  so  proverbially 
celebrated,  is  now  nearly  exhausted,  and  it  is  by  the 
Brazils  that  the  principal  supply  of  this  precious  stone  is 
at  present  furnished.  The  most  celebrated  diamond- 
mines  in  this  last-named  country  are  those  of  Serrado 
Frio,  which  district  is  also  known  as  the  Arrayal  Diaman- 
tino.  or  Diamond  District.  It  is  surrounded  by  rocks  al- 
most inaccessible,  and  was  formerly  so  strictly  guarded, 


84  THE  DIAMOND. 

that  even  the  governor  of  the  province  was  not  allowed 
to  enter  without  the  special  permission  of  the  director  of 
the  mines. 

The  diamonds  are  found  imbedded  along  with  flints,  in  a 
ferruginous  earth,  called  cascalhao,  which  is  dug,  and  taken 
to  be  searched  for  the  precious  stones,  by  filtering  through 
a  running  stream.  The  earth  is  dug  during  the  dry 
season,  when  the  beds  of  rivers  and  torrents  are  dry,  and 
the  diamond-sand  can  more  easily  be  obtained.  When 
the  rainy  season  commences,  the  negroes  are  employed  in 
washing  the  cascalhao.  This  is  generally  performed  (as 
shown  in  the  cut)  under  sheds,  for  the  protection  of  the 
workmen  from  the  weather.  Along  the  sheds  are  placed 
raised  seats  for  the  overseers,  each  of  whom  watches  eight 
negroes,  as  they  search  for  diamonds  among  the  sand  and 
flint  of  the  cascalhao,  as  it  is  washed  by  the  stream  that 
runs  through  the  shed.  Each  negro  works  in  a  separate 
box,  and  is  entirely  naked,  except  during  extreme  cold, 
when  he  is  allowed  a  waistcoat,  without  either  lining  or 
pocket,  lest  he  should  secrete  a  diamond  when  found. 
He  is  furnished  with  a  kind  of  handspike,  to  separate  the 
sand  and  flint,  and  when  he  discovers  a  diamond,  he  stands 
upright,  and  claps  his  hands  as  a  signal  to  the  overseer, 
and  then  looks  anxiously  on  while  it  is  weighed  and  ex- 


THE  DIAMOND.  85 

amined.  For  if  the  poor  fellow  has  been  fortunate  enough 
to  find  a  diamond  weighing  seventeen  carats,  he  is  freed 
from  slavery,  amid  much  ceremony  and  rejoicing.  He  is 
crowned  with  a  wreath  of  flowers,  and  carried  in  proces- 
sion to  the  administrator,  who  pays  his  owner  for  him,  and 
sets  him  at  liberty.  The  discovery  of  a  stone  of  less 
weight  is  also  rewarded  by  gifts  and  premiums,  according 
to  the  value  of  the  gem,  down  even  to  a  pinch  of  to- 
bacco. 

The  diamond,  when  thus  discovered,  is  deposited  by  the 
overseer  in  a  large  wooden  bowl  of  water,  hung  in  the 
middle  of  the  shed  ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  day  the  whole 
are  collected,  weighed,  and  registered,  before  delivering 
them  to  the  proprietor. 

Notwithstanding  every  imaginable  precaution  to  prevent 
thefts,  the  negroes  find  means  to  purloin  and  secrete  dia- 
monds, and  afterwards  sell  them  at  a  low  price  to  the 
smugglers  ;  and  these,  in  their  turn,  are  often  deceived  by 
the  negroes,  who,  by  some  simple  process,  can  give  crys- 
tals, of  but  little  value,  the  appearance  of  rough  diamonds, 
so  as  completely  to  imitate  them. 

It  is  supposed  that  about  20,000  negroes  are  now  em- 
ployed in  the  diamond-mines  of  Brazil.  But,  after  all,  the 
diamond  is  a  product  of  far  less  value  to  this  country 


86  THE  DIAMOND. 

than  might  be  supposed.  It  has  been  estimated,  from  a 
careful  calculation,  that  the  total  value  of  the  diamonds 
discovered  during  eighty  years,  from  1740  to  1820,  was 
about  £3,475,537.  This  amount,  in  only  eighteen  months, 
is  exported  from  the  Brazils  in  sugar  and  coffee  only. 
One-fifth  of  the  total  value  of  the  diamonds  found  belongs 
to  the  crown.  From  the  mines,  the  diamonds  are  conveyed 
to  the  capital  on  mules,  and  escorted  by  a  strong  guard  of 
soldiers. 

The  hardness  of  the  diamond  is  proverbial,  and  to  this 
quality  it  owes  its  chief,  if  not  its  sole  utility.  By  no 
other  substance  than  a  diamond  can  one  of  these  gems  be 
scratched  or  ground.  To  do  this  is  the  business  of  the 
lapidary,  and  great  patience,  skill,  and  taste,  are  required 
in  grinding  down  the  natural  rough  and  irregular  surface 
of  the  stone,  into  such  a  regular,  geometrical  shape,  as 
shall  least  diminish  the  weight  and  size  of  the  gem,  and 
at  the  same  time  shall  best  display  its  lustre  when 
polished,  and  reflect  the  varied  light  from  its  brilliant 
facets. 

In  some  directions,  of  which  none  but  a  skilful  and  ex- 
perienced lapidary  can  judge,  the  diamond  may  be  split  in 
layers,  or  laminae,  and  by  the  judicious  use  of  this  means, 
the  tedious  process  of  grinding  is  partly  avoided. 


THE  DIAMOND. 


87 


Great  expense  is  sometimes  incurred  in  thus  preparing 
these  gems  for  the  goldsmith,  whose  business  it  is  to  fix 
them,  or  "  set"  them,  as  it  is  termed,  in  appropriate  mount- 
ings— such  as  rings  for  the  finger ;  the  locket  for  the 
wrist ;  the  crown  and  sceptre  of  royalty  ;  or  the  sword- 
hilt  of  the  fortunate  soldier. 

The  diamond  once  in  the  possession  of  Napoleon,  and 
which  was  purchased  for  £30,000,  cost  £3,000  additional 
for  grinding  and  polishing. 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

How  can  we  give  an  idea  of  London  to  one  who  has 
never  visited  it,  when  some  even  of  those  who  have  spent 
their  lives  in  wandering  amid  its  wilderness  of  houses  have 
never  seen  one  half  of  its  extent,  and  have  still  less  knowl- 
edge of  its  wealth,  its  commerce,  and  its  population  ?  An 
intelligent  Frenchman  said  very  truly,  "  It  is  not  a  town  ; 
it  is  a  province  covered  with  houses" 

Before  the  era  of  railways,  it  used  to  grow  by  degrees 
upon  the  country  visitor  as  he  approached  its  more  con- 
centrated masses  of  streets  and  houses,  and  his  notions  of 
the  great  city  had  time  to  accommodate  themselves  grad- 
ually to  the  real  state  of  things.  As  he  rolled  along  the 
turnpike-road  outside  some  well-appointed  "four-horse 
coach,"  he  saw  before  him  for  half  a  day  before  he  had 
reached  his  destination,  a  long,  low,  dingy  cloud  in  the 
distant  horizon,  which  the  coachman's  whip  would  point  out 
as  "  London  smoke."  There  it  hung  ;  visible,  while  yet  he 
was  among  breezy  commons  of  heath  and  furze,  or  under 


\N<   IKN'T    MoMF.  OK   r.IGHTINr,   rov|»O\ 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT.  89 

waving  boughs  that  shadowed  the  dusty  road.  As  he 
rolled  along, — instead  of  detached  villages  or  well-defined 
towns,  separated  by  long  intervals  of  field,  and  common,  and 
copse,  enlivened  here  and  there  with  the  detached  farm- 
houses, barns,  and  road-side  inns,  the  country  gentle- 
man's mansion,  and  the  gipsy's  tent — the  road  became 
all  village,  one  joining  on  to  another  in  quick  succession, 
sadly  taxing  the  memory  of  the  bewildered  traveller,  who 
had  hitherto  asked  most  perseveringly  the  name  of  each 
town  he  had  passed  through.  He  seemed,  for  the  first 
time,  to  be  in  two  places  at  once — in  one  locality  before 
he  was  out  of  another. 

On  he  rolled,  and  the  continuous  village  became  a 
town ;  the  road  gradually  concentrated  into  a  street,  and 
his  "long  coach,"  with  its  fleet  four-in-hand,  (the  pro- 
prietor's "crack  team,"  to  drive  through  London  with,) 
threaded  its  mazy  way  amidst  shoals  of  strange  and  va- 
rious vehicles,  and  looked  superior  to  them  all.  There 
were  the  lumbering  omnibus,  the  busy  scrambling  cab,  the 
elegant  carriage,  with  splendid  hammer-cloth  and  be- 
wigged  and  liveried  coachmen  and  flunkies — gigs,  phae- 
tons, and  market-carts,  drays,  vans,  and  wagons  of  all 
shapes  and  dimensions,  and  still  the  confusion  grew  more 
dizzy  and  confounding,  till  a  jarring  crash  upon  the 


90  LONDON,  FAST  AND  PRESENT. 

paved  street  aroused  the  bewildered  traveller,  and  told  him 
that  he  had  at  length  reached  the  stony  heart  of  London. 
But,  alas !  with  few  and  rare  exceptions,  "  we  have 
changed  all  that"  for  the  railway  and  the  steam-engine. 
Onward,  onward  still  we  press,  faster  and  faster  yet. 
But  now,  and  the  varied  sights  of  rural  life  were  flitting 
by  us  in  quick  succession,  each  no  sooner  glanced  at  than 
it  is  gone ;  a  moment  more,  and  in  its  place,  as  by  some 
magic  process,  there  is  the  glare  of  shops,  the  rattle  of 
wheels,  the  busy  hum  of  myriads  of  human  beings — the 
ceaseless  roar  of  the  mightiest  city  of  the  earth  ! 

Hill  and  dale,  hedge-row  and  heath,  the  cottage  with 
roses,  the  meadow  and  its  quiet  herd,  "  forty  feeding  like 
one,"  the  shepherd  and  his  flock,  the  mansion  in  stately 
solitude,  with  all  its  tall  and  ancestral  trees,  all  these,  and 
more,  were  before  the  traveller  a  moment  since,  and  seem 
before  him  still,  mingling  in  strange  confusion  with  the 
Great  Babel  into  which  he  is  so  suddenly  plunged,  while, 
confused  by  the  abrupt  contrast  of  sights  and  sounds 
which  greet  him,  he  gazes  with  blank  amaze  on  all 
around,  scarce  knowing  what  he  sees  or  what  he  hears. 

London  was  an  important  city — the  capital  of  England 
— a  thousand  years  ago ;  and  it  has  been  growing,  and 
spreading,  and  condensing,  almost  without  a  check,  from 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT.  91 

that  day  to  this.  Growing  for  a  thousand  years,  and 
growing  still,  faster  than  ever  !  Still  creeping  along  the 
banks  of  that  noble  river,  to  the  depth  and  security  of 
whose  waters  the  city  owes  its  rise,  its  increase,  and  its 
prosperity. 

The  marsh  through  which  Caesar  and  his  legions  waded 
has  long  given  place  to  the  busy  wharf,  with  its  piles  of 
merchandise  from  every  clime,  its  huge  masses  of  ware- 
houses, dark  and  lofty,  beneath  whose  shadow  crowd  the 
barge  and  the  steamboat.  The  streams  to  which  Saxon 
maidens  were  wont  to  resort  "  to  gather  simples,"  now 
grope  their  subterranean  way  beneath  halls  devoted  to 
trade  and  commerce,  and  the  administration  of  justice ; 
the  resort  of  the  merchant-princes  of  England ;  the  sanc- 
tuary for  the  vast  treasures  of  the  Bank  of  England,  and 
its  numerous  satellites  of  Lombard-street ;  and  the  palace 
of  the  chief  magistrate  of  England's  and  the  world's  chief 
city.  The  forest,  where  once  ranged  the  wild  boar,  the 
wolf,  and  the  antlered  stag,  has  given  place  to  the  picture- 
gallery  and  the  triumphal  column  ;  to  the  square,  the  ter- 
race, and  the  crescent,  with  their  luxurious  mansions, 
tenanted  by  nobles  and  senators  ;  to  long  vistas  of  streets 
in  endless  succession,  dazzling  with  wealth  and  splendor 
unknown  to  Rome  or  Babylon  of  old. 


92  LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

Nearly  a  thousand  years  ago  (in  A.  D.  885)  London, 
which  had  been  sacked  and  burned  by  the  Danes,  was 
being  rebuilt  by  King  Alfred,  whose  galleys  rode,  un- 
checked by  a  single  bridge,  along  the  Thames,  when  now 
his  waters  reflect  many  an  arch  of  granite  or  iron,  above 
whose  crown  ebbs  and  flows  a  tide  as  ceaseless  as  that 
which  glides  beneath  its  shadow. 

For  nearly  two  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Alfred, 
Saxon  and  Dane  struggled  for  the  realm  of  England,  with 
various  success.  But  amid  the  fierce  conflicts  London 
still  grew  on,  and  when  King  Harold  (in  1066)  passed 
through  the  city  on  his  hurried  march  to  the  fatal  field  of 
Hastings,  he  dispatched  from  London  seven  hundred 
vessels  to  intercept  the  Norman  invaders  in  the  flight  so 
fondly  and  so  vainly  anticipated  by  the  too  confiding 
Saxons.  And  when  Duke  William,  after  his  great  vic- 
tory, appeared  before  the  city,  the  warlike  population, 
numerous  even  then,  defended  the  walls  ;  and  the  con- 
queror, compelled  to  abandon  his  idea  of  obtaining  instant 
possession  of  the  capital,  ravaged  the  surrounding  country, 
intercepted  the  communication  with  the  Saxons  of  the 
north,  and  cut  off  the  supplies,  until  the  citizens, 
threatened  with  the  horrors  of  famine,  and  discour- 
aged by  the  supineness  and  incapacity  of  the  Saxon 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT.  93 

earls  and  thanes,  made  terms  with  William,  at  Berkhamp- 
stead. 

Passing  by  another  two  hundred  years — through  the 
horrible  oppressions  of  the  early  Norman  kings,  the  de- 
vastating wars  of  Stephen  and  Matilda,  and  the  Crusades 
— we  come  to  the  era  of  Magna  Charta  ;  and  find  a  par- 
liament at  Westminster  struggling  with  the  weak  and  un- 
popular Henry  III.,  the  king  promising  redress  of  griev- 
ances in  hopes  of  obtaining  supplies,  and  the  parliament 
withholding,  until  they  have  some  better  security  than  the 
word  of  a  king,  which  had  been  so  often  violated.  Once, 
in  his  need,  he  was  counselled  to  sell  all  his  plate  and 
jewels.  "  Who  will  buy  them  ?"  said  he.  "  The  citizens 
of  London,  of  course,"  was  the  reply.  "  By  my  troth," 
said  Henry,  bitterly,  "  if  the  treasures  of  Augustus  were 
put  up  to  sale,  the  citizens  would  be  the  purchasers  ! 
These  clowns,  who  assume  the  style  of  barons,  abound  in 
all  things,  while  we  are  wanting  common  necessaries." 
From  this  time  the  king  was  more  than  ever  inimical 'to 
the  city,  and  to  injure  its  commerce,  (then  amid  wars,  and 
plunder,  and  oppression — as  now  in  peace  and  security — 
the  source  of  all  its  weajth,)  Henry  established  a  fair  at 
Westminster,  which  was  to  last  fifteen  days,  during  which 
all  trading  was  prohibited  in  London.  What  is  now 


94  LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

Charing  Cross  was  then  a  village  in  the  fields,  midway 
between  the  rival  cities,  which  have  long  since  mingled 
into  one. 

In  1218  the  forest  of  Middlesex  was  cleared,  and  the 
citizens  of  London  were  allowed  to  build  there.  The 
Tower  and  old  London  Bridge  in  the  east,  and  West- 
minster Abbey  in  the  west,  were  the  principal  buildings  of 
this  era  which  have  existed  till  our  day. 

Through  the  next  two  hundred  years  the  wealth  and 
trade  of  London  continued  steadily  to  increase.  The 
citizens  obtained  from  the  mighty  Plantagenets  privileges 
and  rights,  in  exchange  for  the  loans  by  which  only  those 
warlike  sovereigns  were  enabled  to  carry  on  their  con- 
quests in  France  ;  and  amidst  the  brilliant  but  useless 
glories  of  Crecy,  and  Poitiers,  and  Agincourt,  London 
carried  on  a  profitable  and  increasing  trade  with  Flanders 
— with  the  extensive  and  fertile  provinces  in  southern  and 
western  France,  which  owned  allegiance  to  the  English 
crown — with  Spain  and  the  Mediterranean  southward — 
and  as  far  northward  as  the  Baltic.  The  civil  wars  of  the 
Roses,  like  the  foreign  ones  with  France,  gave  but  little 
interruption  to  the  progress  of  London,  which  generally 
supported  the  House  of  York ;  the  princes  of  which 
family  relied  less  on  the  power  of  the  barons  than  on  that 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT.  95 

of  the  commons,  whose  favor  they  courted,  and  whose 
privileges  they  increased  and  confirmed  on  many  occasions. 

Lanterns  were  first  hung  out  of  citizens'  houses  in  the 
principal  streets  in  1416;  before,  and  even  after  that  time, 
watchmen  with  fire-baskets,  such  as  are  represented  in 
the  cut,  kept  watch  through  the  night  before  the  houses 
of  the  nobility  and  at  other  important  stations. 

Year  after  year  rolled  on ;  wooden  houses  were  replaced 
by  those  of  brick ;  old  streets  were  paved  and  widened, 
and  new  streets  stretched  into  the  fields  in  every  direc- 
tion ;  wharves  and  warehouses  were  'built  by  the  river 
side ;  churches  and  palaces  arose  in  every  quarter ;  the 
population  rapidly  increased ;  and  two  or  three  hundred 
years  ago,  when  London  was  not  half  its  present  size,  suc- 
cessive sovereigns  issued  proclamations  and  edicts,  for- 
bidding any  further  increase  to  a  city,  which  was  even 
then  thought  to  have  extended  beyond  all  bounds  of  rea- 
son and  safety. 

In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  the  improve- 
ments and  increase  continued.  The  Royal  Exchange  was 
built ;  the  new  river  supplied  individual  houses  in  the 
metropolis  with  water  ;  sewers  were  dug ;  and  hackney- 
coaches  plied  the  streets  for  hire.  The  great  plague, 
speedily  followed  by  the  great  fire  of  London  in  1G60, 


96  LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

checked  the  progress  of  the  city,  but  only  to  enable  it  to 
advance  more  rapidly  and  more  safely.  The  latter  event, 
which  destroyed  all  the  most  densely-built  portions  of  the 
metropolis,  enabled-  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  although  he 
was  not  allowed  to  carry  out  his  plan  of  improvement  to 
the  desired  extent,  to  change  its  appearance  and  charac- 
ter— by  wider  streets,  better  built  houses,  and  more  com- 
plete draining.  In  consequence  of  these  improvements, 
the  health  of  the  inhabitants  was  greatly  promoted.  The 
plague,  which  until  then  had  constantly  lurked  about  the 
back  streets  and  narrow  lanes  by  the  water's  side,  and 
which  on  particular  occasions  burst  out  with  depopulating 
violence,  was  no  longer  a  recognised  visitor ;  and  the  * 
virulence  of  other  diseases  was  much  abated. 

Nevertheless,  great  as  was  this  advance,  the  contrast 
between  the  London  of  a  hundred  years  ago  and  the 
London  of  the  present  day  is  as  great.  The  fathers  of 
many  now  living,  could  remember  seeing  the  heads  of  the 
Scotch  lords,  who  had  risen  in  arms  for  the  Stuarts,  rotting 
on  Temple-bar,  telling  a  disgraceful  tale  of  barbarous 
and  pitiful  revenge,  unworthy  of  a  Christian  government 
and  people.  The  dim  oil  lamps,  which  just  rendered 
visible  the  darkness  of  night,  winked  at  many  a  deed  of 
violence  and  outrage,  which  the  broad  glare  of  the  gas 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT.  97 

lights  (first  used  in  Pall  Mall,  in  1816)  has  scared  away. 
Within  the  last  fifty  years  have  been  formed  the  docks  and 
their  surrounding  warehouses,  which  now  line  the  river 
for  six  miles  below  London  Bridge,  and  afford  accommo- 
dation for  vessels  of  the  largest  size  ;  the  huge  Indiaman 
from  either  hemisphere,  with  sugar,  cotton,  tea,  silk, 
spices,  &c. ;  the  splendidly  fitted  American  packets ; 
the  wool-ships  of  Australia;  the  whalers  from  Green- 
land and  the  Antarctic;  timber  ships  from  Canada  and 
the  Baltic ;  mixed  fleets  of  smaller  vessels  from  every 
coast. 

Fifty  years  ago,  and  the  power  of  steam  to  propel 
vessels  in  spite  of  wind  and  tide,  was  treated  as  a  chimera 
too  absurd  for  experiment ;  and  now  hundreds  of  steamers, 
of  every  size,  with  their  black  chimneys  and  long  streams 
of  smoke,  wend  their  swift  way  along  old  Father  Thames, 
churning  his  waters,  and  raising  on  his  bosom  a  mimic 
sea,  whose  heaving  wave  bids  dance  the  light  wherry  as 
it  skims  along,  meets  the  cumbrous  barge  with  alternate 
heave  and  plunge,  and  dashes  in  foam  against  the  tiers  of 
merchantmen  fast  anchored  in  the  stream.  Still  more 
recently  the  railroad,  with  all  its  wonders,  stretches  from 
the  city  in  every  direction,  and  encloses  a  wider  and  yet 
wider  circuit  of  provinces  in  its  embrace,  until  it  bids  the 

7 


98  LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

remotest  corner  of  the  isle  give  quick  response  to  every 
pulsation  of  the  "  mighty  heart"  of  London. 

The  population  of  the  metropolis,  (including  by  that 
term  the  cities  of  London  and  Westminster,  the  five  par- 
liamentary boroughs,  and  the  parish  of  Chelsea.)  is  now 
nearly  two  millions,  equal  to  the  united  population  of  the 
four  largest  cities  on  the  continent  of  Europe  ;  namely, 
Paris,  Petersburg,  Naples,  and  Vienna ;  and  of  these  five 
Paris  has  nearly  double  the  number  of  inhabitants  of  the 
largest  of  the  remainder,  containing  910,000,  while  Peters- 
burg has  470,000,  Vienna  and  Naples  each  about  350,000 
inhabitants. 

The  immense  population  of  the  capital  of  the  British 
empire  consumes  every  year  at  least  1,200,000  quarters  of 
wheat,  about  1  \  million  of  sheep,  nearly  200,000  bullocks, 
25,000  calves,  25,000  pigs  ;  besides  poultry,  game,  fish, 
vegetables,  and  fruit  in  incalculable  quantities.  About 
12,000  cows  supply  the  citizens  daily  with  milk  ;  72  mil- 
lions of  gallons  of  porter  and  ale  are  annually  drunk  in 
London  ;  half  the  newspapers  in  the  United  Kingdom  are 
printed  there.  The  eight  great  water-companies  supply 
about  200,000  houses  with  nearly  250  millions  of  gallons 
of  water  yearly.  About  90,000  gas  lights  are  nightly  lit, 
and  consume  on  the  average  10  millions  of  cubic  feet  of 


LONDON,  PAST  AND  PRESENT.  99 

gas  every  twenty-four  hours.  But  we  might  fill  a  volume 
with  mere  glimpses  of  this  wonderful  city — such  volumes 
exist — and  yet  before  a  visitor  can  form  an  adequate  idea 
of  its  size  and  its  population,  its  abounding  wealth  and 
its  squalid  poverty,  its  contrasts  of  magnificence  and 
wretchedness,  he  must  have  persevered  day  after  day  in 
exploring  its  various  quarters,  mixed  with  all  classes  of 
society,  inspected  its  hospitals  and  its  mansions,  its  picture- 
galleries  and  its  temples,  its  docks  and  its  bridges,  its  dark 
corners  of  crime  and  misery,  its  splendid  exhibitions  of 
wealth  and  taste ;  and  if  he  have  a  heart  to  feel  and  a 
head  to  think,  he  will  go  to  his  rural  home  with  food  for 
meditation  for  many  days,  a  wiser,  and,  if  he  improve  his 
opportunities,  a  better  man. 


STAFFA,  AND  FINGAL'S  CAVE. 

THE  stormy  sea  that  dashes  against  the  western  shore 
of  Scotland  is  studded  with  a  multitude  of  rocky  islands, 
of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  known  as  the  Hebrides,  or 
Western  isles.  Of  these,  one  of  the  smallest,  but  in  some 
respects  the  most  remarkable,  is  Staffa,  of  which  our  illus- 
tration presents  a  view  from  the  sea. 

It  is  in  shape  an  irregular  oval,  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
in  circuit,  and  except  at  the  solitary  landing-place  on  the 
northeast,  is  bounded  by  precipitous  cliffs,  hollowed  by 
numerous  caverns.  The  cliffs  are,  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  cut,  for  the  most  part  formed  of  basaltic  columns  of  a 
regular  geometrical  shape  ;  each  column  being  generally 
about  two  feet  in  diameter,  and  having  either  five,  six, 
seven,  or  nine  equal  sides  and  angles,  and  varying  in 
height  up  to  one  hundred  and  forty-four  feet  above  the 
sea. 

Of  the  numerous  caves  that  have  been  worn  through  the 
lapse  of  ages  by  the  ceaseless  surge  of  the  Atlantic,  the 
most  celebrated  is  FingaFs  Cave  :— 


• 


STAFFA,  AND  FINGAL'S  CAVE.  101 

"  That  wondrous  dome, 
Where,  as  to  shame  the  temples  deck'd 
By  skill  of  earthly  architect, 
Nature  herself,  it  seem'd,  would  raise 
A  minster  to  her  Maker's  praise ! 
Not  for  a  meaner  use  ascend 
Her  columns,  or  her  arches  bend ; 
Nor  of  a  theme  less  solemn  tells 
That  mighty  surge,  that  ebbs  and  swells  ; 
And  still  between  each  awful  pause, 
From  the  high  vault  an  answer  draws, 
In  varied  tone,  prolong'd  and  high, 
That  mocks  the  organ's  melody." 


To  this  noble  description  from  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  the 
author  appended  a  note,  which  we  cannot  do  better  than 
introduce,  secure  that  a  sketch,  both  in  poetry  and  prose, 
from  such  a  master  of  descriptive  writing  as  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  will  do  all  that  words  can  do  to  portray  the  glo- 
rious scene  with  clearness,  unrivalled  save  to  an  eye- 
witness. 

"  It  would  be  unpardonable  to  detain  the  reader  upon 
a  wonder  so  often  described,  and  yet  so  incapable  of  being 
understood  by  description.  The  palace  of  Neptune  is 
even  grander  upon  the  second  than  the  first  view.  The 
stupendous  columns  which  form  the  sides  of  the  cave  ;  the 


102  STAFFA,  AND  FINGAL'S  CAVE. 

depth  and  strength  of  the  tide,  which  rolls  in  deep  and 
heavy  swell  up  to  the  extremity  of  the  vault ;  the  variety 
of  tints  formed  by  white,  crimson,  and  yellow  stalactites, 
or  petrifactions,  which  occupy  the  vacancies  between  the 
base  of  the  broken  pillars  forming  the  roof,  and  inter- 
secting them  with  a  rich,  curious,  and  variegated  chasing 
occupying  each  interstice ;  the  corresponding  variety 
below  water,  where  the  ocean  rolls  over  a  dark  red  or 
violet-colored  rock,  from  which,  as  from  a  base,  the 
basaltic  columns  arise ;  the  tremendous  noise  of  the 
swelling  tide,  mingling  with  the  deep-toned  echoes  of  the 
vaults,  are  circumstances  elsewhere  unparalleled." 

To  this  we  need  only  add,  that  Fingal's  Cave  is  about 
two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  deep,  and  at  flood-tide  and  in 
moderate  weather,  a  boat  may  sail  from  its  entrance  to  its 
extremity.  The  height  from  the  water  to  the  centre  of 
the  roof  is  nearly  seventy  feet,  and  the  columns  that  line 
its  sides  are  nearly  perpendicular. 


THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY. 

DUE  south  of  Staffa,  eighty  or  ninety  miles  across  the 
sea,  and  forming  almost  the  northeastern  extremity  of 
Ireland,  we  find  another  magnificent  collection  of  basaltic 
columns,  called  the  Giant's  Causeway. 

Indeed  the  whole  coast  of  the  neighborhood,  and  the 
opposite  island  of  Rathlin,  abound  with  these  wonderful 
specimens  of  Nature's  architecture :  column  piled  against 
column,  in  every  variety  of  combination,  accurately  chis- 
elled, and  in  various  forms,  (some  grand,  and  some  gro- 
tesque,) by  no  human  architect : — there  they  stand,  as 
they  have  stood  for  thousands  of  years,  a  barrier  against 
the  Atlantic's  stormy  billows,  which,  winter  after  winter, 
vainly  against  those  adamantine  pillars  roll,  and  roar, 
and  dash  their  angry  spray. 

And  yet  these  appear  but  to  be  the  relics  of  a 
mightier  pile,  if  geologists  reason  truly.  "Those," 
says  Dr.  James  Johnson,  in  his  Irish  Tour,  "  who 
have  explored  Staffa,  on  one  side  of  the  Channel, 
and  the  Columns*  Gigantis,  on  the  other,  must  have 


104  THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY. 

come  to  the  conclusion,  that  these  are  merely  the  ele- 
vated extremities  of  a  huge  chain  of  basaltic  pillars, 
stretching  under  the  ocean,  from  the  coast  of  Argyll  to 
that  of  Antrim.  One  portion  of  this  stupendous  bridge, 
or  causeway,  still  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  boisterous 
ocean — namely,  the  Island  of  Rathlin,  exhibiting  the 
same  formation,  and  presenting  perpendicular  cliffs 
of  two  or  three  hundred  feet  in  height,  to  the  foam- 
ing surge.  The  Irish  extremity  of  this  mighty  bridge, 
or  partition,  is  on  an  infinitely  grander  scale  than 
the  Scottish.  The  pillars  of  Staffa  are  mere  dwarfs 
compared  with  their  brethren,  the  Irish  giants,  on  the 
opposite  shore.  The  basaltic  columns  of  the  Antrim 
coast  rise  to  a  stupendous  altitude,  and  present  a  greater 
variety  of  grotesque,  majestic,  and  fantastic  figures  than 
the  clouds  of  an  autumnal  sky  during  a  radiant  setting  of 
the  sun."  "  How  long  this  fire-formed  barrier,  between 
two  boisterous  seas — this  volcanic  chain  of  connection  be- 
tween two  distant  coasts,  resisted  the  warfare  of  winds 
and  waves,  no  record  will  ever  be  found.  Nothing  now 
remains  on  either  shore  but  enormous  masses  and  count- 
less myriads  of  basaltic  columns,  wedged  into  causeways, 
piled  into  cliffs,  hollowed  into  caverns,  bent  into  arches, 
and  arched  into  temples." 


THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY.  105 

The  Giant's  Causeway  itself  is  a  natural  mole  or  quay, 
jutting  out  into  the  sea,  and  paved  with  the  smooth  and 
flat  tops  of  many-sided  columns,  whose  sharp  angles  and 
smooth  sides  fit  so  accurately  one  against  the  other,  that 
the  blade  of  a  knife  can  hardly  be  introduced  between 
them.  It  is  as  if  by  some  giant  power  a  vast  number  of 
enormous  piles  had  been  driven  into  the  bed  of  the  sea, 
their  tops  levelled,  and  the  whole  petrified.  The  causeway 
consists  of  three  distinct  portions,  the  lowest  of  which  is 
only  seen  at  low- water,  and  is  about  a  thousand  feet  in 
length;  the  others  are  somewhat  shorter.  As  at  StafFa, 
the  columns  consist  of  various  regular  geometrical  figures, 
having  from  three  to  eight  sides ;  but  the  general  form  is 
hexagonal. 

The  cliffs  of  all  the  coasts  in  these  seas  are  frequented 
at  particular  seasons  of  the  year  by  immense  flocks  of  sea- 
birds ;  as  the  gull,  the  cormorant,  the  eider-duck,  and  the 
puffin.  These,  and  many  other  species,  in  countless  num- 
bers, frequent  the  clefts  and  ledges  of  the  rocks  which 
overhang  the  sea,  and  from  their  giddy  height  they  glide 
on  smooth,  extended  wing,  and  skim  along  the  ever-rest- 
less surface  of  the  mighty  deep,  in  search  of  that  food 
which  still,  as  in  the  dawn  of  time,  "  the  waters  bring  forth 
abundantly."  To  these  retreats  the  venturous  inhabitants 


106  THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY. 

of  the  coasts  follow  them,  with  many  devices  :  sometimes 
from  a  boat,  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  some  bold  climber 
will  ascend  the  rock,  and  clinging  to  its  face,  find  dan- 
gerous footing  in  search  of  his  game.  At  others,  he  and 
his  confederates  will  take  a  rope  to  the  top  of  the  cliff, 
and  let  each  other  down,  in  the  manner  shown  in  the  cut, 
while  the  sea  is  tossing  at  a  giddy  depth  below,  and  he  is 
dangling  in  mid  air,  with  the  frightened  birds  screaming 
around  the  intruder.  The  eggs  and  flesh  of  the  birds  serve 
them  for  food ;  the  feathers  are  sold,  and  some — especially 
the  small,  downy  feathers  from  the  breast  of  the  eider-duck 
— are  in  great  request  and  obtain  high  prices. 


THE  LAND'S  END,  AND  THE  CORNISH  WRECKERS. 

"  Where  England,  stretch'd  towards  the  setting  sun, 
Narrow  and  long,  o'erlooks  the  western  wave." 

CORNWALL  is  the  most  western  county  of  England,  and 
at  the  extreme  point  of  Cornwall,  "  stretched,"  as  the  poet 
says,  "  towards  the  setting  sun,"  is  the  long,  rocky  promon- 
tory, known  as  the  Land's  End.  Here  the  billows  of  the 
Atlantic,  rolling  over  an  abyss,  unchecked  by  rock  or  shoal, 
for  three  thousand  miles,  first  meet  a  barrier,  against  which 
they  dash  tumultuously ;  whilst  their  spray,  borne  on  the 
wings  of  the  swift  western  gale,  flies  far  inland,  covering 
all  things  with  its  salt  rime.  The  cliffs  at  the  Land's 
End,  like  those  at  Staffa  and  the  Giant's  Causeway, 
abound,  though  not  to  the  same  extent  or  perfection,  with 
basaltic  columns,  which  are  about  sixty  feet  in  height. 
On  the  Long  Ships'  Rocks,  about  a  mile  from  the  main- 
land, is  erected  a  lighthouse,  with  a  fixed  light,  which  is 
elevated  about  ninety  feet  above  high-water  mark,  and 
gives  friendly  warning  to  vessels  sailing  along  these  dan- 


108  THE  LAND'S  END, 

gerous  coasts.  The  people  of  Cornwall  had  once  a  most 
unenviable  reputation  for  their  barbarous  inhospitality 
towards  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  wrecked 
on  their  shores.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  cry  of  "  A 
wreck !  a  wreck  !"  was  hailed  with  joy  by  all,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  who  flocked  to  the  beach  at  the 
welcome  news,  and  plundered,  without  the  least  regard  to 
the  rights  of  the  shipwrecked,  all  that  was  thrown  on 
shore  by  the  waves.  This  inhospitable  robbery  was  too 
often  accompanied  by  murder,  provoked,  perhaps,  in  some 
instances,  by  the  expostulations  or  struggles  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  ship,  to  retain  what  they  most  reasonably 
looked  upon  as  their  own  property.  Meanwhile,  the 
Cornish  men,  calling  the  wreck  "  a  God-send,"  looked 
upon  all  goods  stranded  upon  their  coast  as  their  especial 
property,  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  direct  interposition 
of  Providence,  and  were  ready  to  resent  as  an  insult  any 
opposition  to  their  claim.  Many  are  the  tales  told — fre- 
quently mingling  the  horrible  and  the  ludicrous — of  scenes 
at  a  shipwreck  on  the  coast  of  Cornwall.  Of  these,  some 
may  have  been  exaggerated,  but  they  had  doubtless  some 
foundation  in  the  general  state  of  public  opinion  in  the 
country  upon  this  subject.  Witness  Peter  Pindar's  story 
of  the  minister,  who  was  preaching  on  the  sabbath,  when 


AND  THE  CORNISH  WRECKERS.  109 

the  cry  of  "  A  wreck  !  a  wreck  !"  was  heard  without  the 
church.  The  congregation,  as  by  an  uncontrollable  im- 
pulse, rose  hastily,  and  rushed  towards  the  door,  to  share 
in  the  expected  spoil.  The  minister  in  vain  endeavored 
to  restrain  them,  till,  finding  all  efforts  vain,  he  too  yielded 
to  the  all-besetting  sin,  and,  in  the  words  of  the  witty,  but 
irreverend  poet, 

"  Stop,  stop !"  cried  he,  "  at  least  one  prayer — 
Let  me  get  down,  and  all  start  fair !" 

And  yet,  on  other  occasions,  the  Cornish  people  were 
by  no  means  wanting  in  hospitality  to  strangers,  and  the 
exercise  of  all  the  kindly,  social  virtues.  The  same  men 
who  would  appropriate,  without  regard  to  the  rights  or 
expostulations  of  the  owners,  all  property  strewn  upon  the 
beach,  would  welcome  the  bewildered  traveller  to  his 
home  at  night,  bring  out  his  best  glass  of  "  yell,"  give  up 
his  own  bed  to  the  stranger,  and  guide  him  on  his  way 
over  the  moor,  with  kindly  warning  of  the  numerous  shafts 
and  pitfalls  that  beset  this  land  of  mines. 

It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  the  "  wreckers  of  Corn- 
wall" are  a  by-gone  race — that  the  opprobrium  no  longer 
clings  to  their  name.  The  exertions  of  the  Wesleyan 
ministers,  and  the  diffusion  of  education  and  habits  of 


110  THE  LAND'S  END, 

reading,  have  done  much  to  humanize  the  Cornish  charac- 
ter ;  the  peculiar  feature  of  which  might,  perhaps,  be  ex- 
plained, and  in  part  excused,  by  reference  to  history. 

In  the  dark  night  of  ignorance,  cruelty,  and  wrong, 
which  settled  over  Europe  upon  the  downfall  of  the  Roman 
empire,  trade  and  commerce  were  almost  annihilated. 
No  longer  did  the  peaceful  mariner  from  Spain  or  the 
Mediterranean  visit  the  bays  of  Cornwall,  to  exchange  the 
food  and  clothing  of  the  south  for  the  treasures  of  the  earth 
— tin,  and  copper,  and  silver  ore.  The  dreaded  sea-kings 
rode  triumphant  on  every  sea,  and  scourged,  with  rapine 
and  plunder,  all  the  coasts  of  Europe.  At  this  period 
Cornwall  was  crowded  with  descendants  of  the  ancient 
Britons,  who,  after  long  and  obstinate  contests,  were 
driven,  by  the  successive  hordes  of  the  conquering  Saxons, 
from  the  eastern  and  central  portions  of  the  island,  and 
found  refuge  in  the  fastnesses  of  Wales,  Cumberland,  and 
Cornwall.  The  Saxons,  and  their  kindred  successors,  the 
Danes,  were  accustomed,  in  their  slight  galleys,  to  sail  up 
the  creeks  and  rivers ;  and  when  the  force  opposed  to 
their  inroad,  or  the  uninviting  aspect  of  the  country, 
forbade  a  permanent  settlement,  they  ravaged  the  district 
with  fire  and  sword,  and  regained  their  ships,  laden  with 
all  the  spoil  they  could  carry  away.  The  Celts  of  Corn- 


AND  THE  CORNISH  WRECKERS.      t  111 

wall,  cooped  up  in  their  narrow  boundaries,  which,  at  the 
same  time,  concentrated  their  forces,  and  enabled  them, 
like  their  Welch  brethren,  to  retain  their  distinct  national 
existence  as  Britons  throughout  the  times  of  Saxon  rule, 
soon  had  too  good  cause  to  look  upon  every  sea-borne 
vessel  as  a  cruel  enemy,  whose  approach  was  to  be 
opposed,  and  whose  destruction  was  to  be  sought  by  all 
good  patriots ;  and  if,  by  any  chance,  one  of  the  Saxon 
or  Danish  galleys  was  wrecked  on  their  coast,  it  was 
naturally  looked  upon  as  but  a  righteous  retribution  for 
the  oppressions  they  and  their  brethren  had  endured,  and 
its  plunder  as  but  a  slight  return  for  treasures  they  them- 
selves had  been  despoiled  of.  And  for  ages  after  circum- 
stances had  changed,  and  when  a  happier  era  began 
to  dawn,  a  blind  and  cruel  selfishness,  choking  all  the 
kinder,  gentler  feelings,  kept  alive  in  this  remote  corner 
of  our  isle  a  practice  which  originated  in  national  hostili- 
ty ;  and  that  which  began  in  the  resistance  of  a  people  to 
oppression  and  a  reprisal  for  outrage,  degenerated  into 
private  and  indiscriminate  plunder,  too  often  aggravated 
by  cold-blooded  treachery  and  murder  ;  making  our  west- 
ern shores  a  by- word  and  an  opprobium  to  all  the  world. 

And,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to  rob  the  poor  mariner, 
whom  the  winds  and  waves  have  thrown  upon  their  shores, 


112  THE  LAND'S  END, 

there  were  to  be  found  in  Cornwall  wretches  base  enough 
to  mislead,  by  false  signal-lights,  vessels  that  approached 
the  coast  by  night,  and  lure  them,  and  all  their  crew,  upon 
the  rocks. 

Long  ago  I  heard  a  Cornish  tale,  which,  once  heard, 
is  not  easily  forgotten.  After  a  sultry  autumn  day,  the 
blood-red  sun  sunk  beneath  a  sea  of  crimson,  which  gradu- 
ally deepened  into  molten  lead ;  and,  as  the  daylight 
faded,  a  dark  bank  of  clouds  rose  in  the  west,  and  blotted 
out  star  after  star,  almost  ere  it  had  twinkled  through  the 
twilight.  An  old  man,  whose  dwelling  was  on  the  sea- 
shore, beneath  the  cliffs,  looked  out  upon  the  darkening 
face  of  the  sea,  with  an  eager,  anxious  glance,  that  swept 
the  horizon.  There  had  not  been  a  breath  of  air  stirring 
all  day ;  but  now,  low  meanings  foretold  a  rising  gale, 
and  the  lightning,  distant  as  yet,  and  voiceless,  glim- 
mered through  the  dark  caverns  of  thick  cloud,  which 
overspread  the  sky,  and  deepened,  by  momentary  con- 
trast, the  solemn  blackness  of  the  night.  Far  seaward, 
a  faint  strip  of  dull  red  sky  in  the  horizon  revealed  the 
tall  masts  of  a  gallant  ship,  which  had  been  all  day  slowly 
working  her  tedious  way  up  the  Channel  on  her  homeward 
course.  The  old  man  had  watched  her  for  many  hours 
before  sunset,  and  he  chuckled  as  he  saw,  ere  the  last  dim 


AND  THE  CORNISH  WRECKERS.  113 

line  of  western  light  had  faded,  that  she  was  gradually 
nearing  the  coast ;  and  he  noticed,  with  horrid  glee,  the 
threatenings  of  the  coming  storm.  He  called  to  his  old 
wife  for  his  lantern,  went  to  a  crazy  and  ruinous  shed,  and 
led  out  a  half-starved  horse,  which  he  led  by  the  halter 
along  the  beach.  At  a  ravine  in  the  cliffs  he  turned  with 
his  horse,  and  began  to  ascend  a  winding  and  dangerous 
path  to  the  top  of  the  precipice.  There  he  lighted  his  lan- 
tern and  fastened  it  to  the  horse's  head,  and  then,  for 
three  or  four  hours  of  the  night,  he  led  the  unconscious 
animal  backward  and  forward  along  the  edge  of  the 
cliffs.  By  this  time  the  lightning  flashed  frequent  and 
fierce  ;  the  thunder  rolled  and  rattled  directly  overhead  ; 
the  rain  poured  down  like  a  flood  ;  and  the  sea,  which  all 
day  had  heaved  sluggishly,  and  heavily  broke  upon  the 
rocks,  was  now  roused  into  fury  by  the  rising  gale  which 
swept  along  its  bosom.  Still  the  old  man  pursued  his 
walk  along  the  cliffs,  and  ever  and  anon  looked  keenly 
and  anxiously  through  the  darkness  upon  the  now  raging 
sea  beneath.  Hark  ! — surely  that  thunder  came  not  from 
the  clouds — that  flash  was  no  lightning's  stroke.  It  is — 
yes — it  is  the  cannon  of  the  fated  ship,  the  well-known 
signal  of  distress ;  and  the  old  man's  fiendish  nature  re- 
joiced at  the  thought  that  his  decoy-light  had  answered 

8 


114  THE  LAND'S  END, 

its  object.  Again  and  again  that  sound  boomed  along 
the  waters ;  for  all  too  late  the  mariners  discover  that 
they  are  embayed  ;  that  rocks  and  breakers  are  round 
them,  and  the  gale  is  driving  them  quickly  to  the  shore  ; 
that  the  false  light,  which  had  appeared  to  them  as 
that  of  a  tall  ship  tossing  on  the  sea,  was  displayed 
to  lure  them  to  destruction.  Again  and  again  the  gun  is 
fired,  and  still  the  old  man  rejoices  in  the  success  of  his 
horrid  stratagem,  and  calculates,  with  horrid  accuracy, 
the  spot  and  the  moment  for  the  fated  vessel  striking 
on  the  rocks.  As  the  time  approaches,  he  descends  the 
cliffs,  and  takes  his  station  on  the  beach  to  watch  for 
whatever  the  raging  waves  may  cast  on  shore.  And  soon 
there  is  heard  a  crash,  louder  than  the  strife  of  elements 
— a  shriek,  far  above  the  roar  of  waters — but  still  the 
wrecker  shrinks  not  from  the  horrors  of  his  own  dark 
deed,  yet  shrouded  by  the  tempest  and  the  night.  Day 
dawns  at  length,  and  shows  to  his  greedy  eyes  the  beach 
strewn  with  fragments  of  the  wreck,  which  the  yet  heaving 
billows  are  still  bearing  shoreward  and  dashing  on  the 
rocks.  Presently,  the  old  man  is  bending  over  the  body 
of  a  drowned  man  ;  for  his  avaricious  glance  has  detected 
on  the  finger  of  the  dead  a  gold  ring,  with  a  bright  gem 
glittering  in  the  early  dawn.  Hastily  and  eagerly  the 


AND  THE  CORNISH  WRECKERS.  115 

hardened  plunderer  drags  away  the  ring  from  the  un- 
resisting hand,  and,  by  the  act,  the  face  of  the  dead  man 
is  turned  upward  and  meets  the  eye  of  his  murderer. 
In  that  moment's  glance,  horror  and  despair  have  taken 
the  place  of  greedy  joy — the  color  forsakes  his  quivering 
lip — the  dearly-purchased  gem  drops  from  his  unconscious 
grasp,  and,  as  he  sinks  to  the  earth  beside  the  corpse,  he 
gasps  out — "  My  son  !  my  son  !" 

It  was  too  true.  The  old  man's  only  son  had  left  his 
home  in  early  youth,  disgusted  with  the  vices  that  dis- 
graced his  home ;  and  with  hardly-earned  riches  and 
honors,  which  he  fondly  anticipated  might  be  the  means 
of  rescuing  his  parent  from  the  course  of  guilt  and 
depravity  in  which  he  had  grown  gray,  he  was  returning 
to  his  native  land — to  perish  thus  !  Ill-fated  son  of  a  yet 
more  wretched  sire — the  murderer  and  the  plunderer  of  his 
only  child  ! 

Seek  not  to  lift  the  veil  that  covers  the  horrors  of  his 
late  remorse,  but  rejoice  in  the  belief  that  the  Cornish 
wrecker  is  the  creature  of  a  by-gone  age. 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE. 

WHEN  contemplating  the  magnitude  and  distances  of 
the  heavenly  bodies,  we  are  overwhelmed  with  astonish- 
ment and  awe ;  and,  as  we  turn  away  from  the  glories 
revealed  to  us  by  the  telescope,  we  are  ready  to  sink  into 
dust  at  the  comparison  of  our  own  utter  insignificance. 
"  Surely,"  we  say,  "  such  pigmy  insects  as  we  are  can 
never  occupy  a  moment's  care  from  that  awful  Being  who 
has  framed  the  boundless  wonders  of  the  heavens — who 
has  scattered,  like  gold-dust,  throughout  the  immeasurable 
depths  of  space,  worlds  upon  worlds,  compared  to  the 
least  of  which  our  earth,  with  all  its  inhabitants,  its 
"  everlasting  hills,"  its  rivers  and  its  seas,  is  but  a  speck 
in  creation.  Surely,  we  are  tempted  to  say,  the  very  ex- 
istence of  such  a  mere  atom  as  man  must  be  forgotten  by 
Him  whom  the  very  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain. 
We  think  only  of  the  greatness  of  His  power  :  we  forget 
the  greatness  of  His  goodness — we  forget,  perhaps,  that 
weak  and  insignificant  as  we  are,  there  are  myriads  of 


DROP  OF  WATER  MAGNIFIED. 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE.  117 

living  creatures  swarming  around  us,  each  one  framed 
with  the  nicest  skill — each  endowed  with  capacities  of 
enjoyment — each  having  some  service  to  perform  in 
creation — whose  very  existence  was  unknown  to  us,  until 
the  microscope  gave  to  the  human  eye  some  ten  thousand 
times  the  power  of  vision  it  possessed  before.  By  its 
means  we  find  fresh  proofs  of  that  which  the  Book  of  In- 
spiration has  already  taught — proofs  that  the  same  Divine 
power,  wisdom,  and  benevolence  which  bade  to  roll  in 
glory  and  brightness,  through  myriads  of  ages,  suns 
mightier  far  than  that  which  illumines  our  sky,  disdains 
not  to  contrive  and  to  provide  for  the  pleasures  of  the 
smallest  insect  that  sports  for  an  hour  in  the  summer's 
light,  and  then  dies. 

"  Will  He  not  care  for  you,  ye  faithless  ?     Say, 
Is  He  unwise,  or  are  we  less  than  they  ?" 

Yes, — every  tiny  leaf,  every  drop  of  water,  is  a  world 
in  which  multitudes  of  God's  creatures  are  born,  with 
frames  of  workmanship  as  curious  and  as  wondrous  as 
ours  ;  and  there  they  live  and  sport  with  evident  enjoyment 
throughout  their  little  day,  fulfil  the  end  of  their  tiny 
being,  and  then  give  way  to  new  generations.  Look  at 
this  cut ! — it  represents  a  single  drop  of  water,  such  a 


118  PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE. 

drop  as  may  be  hung  trembling  upon  a  pin's  point — ay, 
one  that,  as  it  glitters  in  the  light,  seems  to  the  naked 
eye  pure  and  free  from  any  mixture  of  substance  in  its 
clear  fluid  ;  and  yet  it  swarms  with  life  in  many  forms. 
Looking  through  a  powerful  microscope  at  that  tiny  drop, 
we  may  see  creatures  of  shapes  like  those  depicted  there, 
and  many  more  besides ;  but  all  endowed  with  power  of 
motion  evidently  voluntary,  either  in  frolic  gambol,  or  in 
search  of  food.  As  we  watch  their  movements,  fresh 
forms  appear  and  disappear  to  make  way  for  new  gener- 
ations, which  quickly  perish  in  their  turn.  Even  for 
the  pleasures  and  the  needs  of  beings  such  as  these,  whose 
universe  is  a  drop  of  water,  God  provides  ;  and  shall  He 
not  care  for  us  ? 

The  microscope  strikingly  exhibits  the  superiority  of 
the  works  of  nature  over  those  of  art.  Examined  through 
its  magic  lens,  the  finest,  the  most  delicate  engraving 
looks  coarse  and  harsh — lines  meant  to  be  smooth  and 
accurate,  appear  rugged  and  distorted — its  most  carefully 
measured  spaces  are  found  to  be  grossly  incorrect  and 
unequal — the  finest  needle  that  man  can  make  appears 
as  rough  and  pointless  as  the  kitchen  poker — the  most 
delicate  tissue  of  silk  or  lace  presents  the  appearance  of  an 
irregular  and  confused  assemblage  of  rough  hempen  cables. 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE.  119 

On  the  other  hand,  examine  the  leaf  of  a  tree  ; — every 
line  is  true  and  perfect ;  the  net- work  that  forms  its 
frame  shows  that  the  intention  of  the  Artificer  is  fully 
carried  out,  in  reality  as  well  as  in  appearance  ;  the  sting 
of  a  wasp  appears  through  the  microscope,  as  to  the 
naked  eye,  a  smooth  shaft,  polished  and  pointed  with  the 
nicest  accuracy ;  the  gossamer  thread  that  floats  on  the 
breeze  proves  to  be  an  assemblage  of  the  finest  lines,  each 
individual  of  which  is  as  fine  and  smooth  in  the  micro- 
scope that  magnifies  a  thousand  times,  as  to  the  imper- 
fections of  our  natural  vision  appears  the  cluster  formed 
by  their  union. 

The  hair  of  our  heads 
is  found  to  be  a  tube 
growing  from  a  bulbous 
root  sunk  into  the  skin, 
and  deriving  its  nourish- 
ment from  the  body,  just 
as  vegetable  bulbs  do  theirs 
from  the  earth.  In  fact, 
the  hair  appears  to  have  a  principle  of  life  independent, 
in  some  degree,  of  the  rest  of  the  frame,  as  if  it  were 
a  vegetable  rather  than  an  animal  substance  ;  for  there 
are  well  authenticated  instances  of  the  hair  of  the  head 


120  PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE. 

and    the    beard    growing    to    considerable   length   after 
death. 

The  whiskers  of  a  lion, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  cat 
tribe  in  general,  have  an 
office  distinct  from  that  of 
ordinary  hair  in  general. 
Those  animals  creep  stealth- 
Whiskers  of  a  lion.  ily  on  their  prey  in  the  dark, 
frequently  amid  many  obstructions,  from  the  crockery- 
crowded  shelves  where  puss  steals  along  after  mice, 
to  the  tangled  jungle  of  an  African  or  Asiatic  forest, 
where  the  lion  or  the  tiger  crouches  in  preparation 
for  the  deadly  spring.  The  long,  stiff  whiskers  spring 
outward  from  the  muzzle,  and  their  terminations,  form- 
ing an-  irregular  circle  at  least  equal  to  the  space 
occupied  by  the  body  of  the  animal,  come  in  con- 
tact with  any  object  in  the  neighborhood,  and  give  warn- 
ing to  the  creature  to  avoid,  by  any  noise,  alarming 
the  prey  of  which  it  is  in  pursuit.  They  are,  in  fact, 
feelers  with  a  high  degree  of  sensibility,  being  inserted 
into  the  skin,  not  by  a  broad  bulb,  but  by  a  stifFer  and 
sharper  root,  so  as  to  press  more  decidedly  upon  the 
nerves,  and  give  the  animals  speedy  and  accurate  intel- 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE.  121 

ligence  of  its  approach  to  any  object,  and  its  shape  and 
direction. 

The  bristles  of  a  hog  have 
their  origin  in  a  sheath  rising 
from  a  small  papilla.  This 
papilla  is  full  of  an  oily  se- 
cretion, and  it  is  this  which, 
by  keeping  the  skin,  when 
Bristles  of  a  Hog.  prepared  after  the  animal's 

death,  soft  and  lissom  and  impervious  to  moisture,  makes 
a  pig's  skin  so  well  adapted  for  saddles. 

The  skin  of  a  negro  seems 
admirably  fitted  for  the  burn- 
ing climate  he  inhabits.  It  is 
very  smooth,  and  feels  always 
much  cooler  than  that  of  a 
white  man  under  the  same 
skin  of  a  Negro.  circumstances.  This  appears 

due  to  the  minute  vessels  which  pervade  it,  and  which,  by 
the  dark  fluid  they  contain,  give  to  the  negro  his  distin- 
guishing color.  The  freckles  caused  in  persons  of  very 
fair  complexion  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  and  the  tan  or  sun- 
burn in  those  of  a  darker  hue,  arise  from  the  same  cause 
as  the  dark  color  of  the  negro,  only  of  course  in  a  much 


122  PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE. 

less  degree.  The  action  of  the  sun's  heat  appears  to  stim- 
ulate the  net- work  of  small  vessels  that  pervade  the  skin, 
thus  causing  them  to  discharge  an  increased  secretion  of 
carbon. 

Dr.  Carpenter  says,  "  In  most  parts  of  the  human  skin 
which  are  liable  to  rub  against  each  other,  we  find  a  con- 
siderable number  of  sebaceous  follicles,  which  secrete  a 
fatty  substance,  that  keeps  the  skin  soft  and  smooth. 
These  are  abundant  on  the  most  exposed  parts  of  the  face, 
and  their  secretion  prevents  the  skin  from  drying  up  and 
cracking,  which  it  would  be  liable  to  do  under  the  influ- 
ence of  sun  and  air.  They  are  more  numerous  in  the 
skins  of  negroes,  producing  in  them  the  oily  sleekness  for 
which  they  are  generally  remarkable,  and  which  prevents 
their  skins  from  suffering  by  exposure  to  a  tropical  sun. 
It  has  been  lately  discovered,  that  even  in  persons  of 
cleanly  habits,  each  of  these  follicles  is  the  residence  of  a 
minute  insect,  closely  resembling  the  cheese-mite." 

The  skin  of  the  camel  and  that  of  the  porpoise,  are 
widely  different  in  character,  but  each  adapted  for  the 
circumstances  and  situation  of  the  animal  which  it  covers. 

The  porpoise,  like  the  whale,  being  a  warm-blooded 
animal,  and  frequenting  the  seas  of  different  and  changing 
climates,  requires  complete  protection  from  the  great  and 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE. 


123 


rapid  changes  of  temperature  to  which  it  is  exposed.  It 
is  evident  that  a  covering  of  fur  or  hair,  the  usual  means 
of  protection  from  cold  bestowed  upon  land  animals,  would 
greatly  impede  the  progress  of  creatures  intended,  like  the 
whale,  the  dolphin,  and  the  porpoise,  to  move  rapidly 
through  such  a  resisting  medium  as  water.  The  two  ob- 
jects, protection  from  alternations  of  heat  and  cold  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  a  smooth  unctuous  surface, 
from  which  the  water  may  glide  without  being  absorbed 
or  attracted,  are  both  attained  by  the  adoption  of  a  smooth 
skin  lined  with  a  thick  coating  of  fat,  which  prevents  the 
animal  heat  necessary  to  the  constitution  of  the  creature 
being  too  rapidly  lowered  by  the  conducting  power  of  the 
surrounding  water. 


Skin  of  the  Porpoise. 


Skin  of  the  Camel. 


Contrasted  with  this,  the  camel  is  destined  to  inhabit 
the  dry  hot  countries  of  Eastern  and  Central  Asia,  and  to 
traverse  deserts  whose  light  sands  are  frequently  whirled 


124 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE. 


Feathers  of  the 


and  driven  in  a  stifling  cloud  which  penetrates  every  ob- 
ject it  meets.  As  a  protection  from  this,  the  camel's  skin 
is  hard  and  tough,  covered  with  a  few  thin  scattered  hairs, 
except  in  particular  places,  where  it  grows  in  tufts  ;  and  in 
those  parts  of  the  body  and  limbs  which  support  the  animal 
when  it  kneels  or  lies  down,  the  skin  is  thickened  into  cal- 
losities that  resist  the  weight  that  presses  upon  them. 

These  feathers  are 
represented,  not  as  mi- 
croscopic objects,  but 
as  they  appear  to  the 
naked  eye.  They  are 
admirable  examples  of 
their  class,  and  well  ex- 
hibit the  difference  be- 
tween a  wing  and  a 
tail-feather.  The  owl 
is  well  known  to  be  a 
bird  of  prey  which  seeks 
its  food, — small  birds, 
mice,  rats,  and  reptiles, 
— by  night.  It  skims  owl. 

along  the  hedge-rows  and  by  the  farm  buildings  so  noise- 
lessly, that  the  timid  little  creatures  it  seeks  are  not  aware 


Peacock. 


PEEPS  THROUGH  THE  MICROSCOPE.  125 

of  its  presence  till  it  pounces  upon  them.  This  smooth, 
noiseless  flight,  so  different  from  the  loud  flapping  of  wings 
caused  by  birds  of  other  habits  and  pursuits,  (rooks  and 
pigeons,  for  instance,)  is  obtained  by  the  peculiar  formation 
of  its  pinions.  The  quills  are  covered  beneath  with  a  fine 
down,  which  prevents  their  rattling  one  upon  another  in 
the  motion  of  flying,  and  the  plumage  lining  each  side  of 
every  quill  is  also  edged  with  a  smooth  down,  which  dead- 
ens the  vibration  of  the  air  under  the  stroke  of  the  owl's 
wing. 

The  pinion  feathers  of  most  birds  are  enabled  to  pre- 
serve their  broad  van-like  form,  in  spite  of  the  resistance 
of  the  air  during  the  rapid  and  powerful  action  of  the  bird 
in  flying,  by  means  of  an  edging,  both  serrated  (or  saw- 
like)  and  hooked,  by  which  each  separate  filament  which 
forms  the  van  of  the  feather  is  locked  into  the  one  on  each 
side  of  it.  Any  one  may  see  an  example  of  it  by  ex- 
amining the  feather  of  a  common  goose-quill.  The  tail 
feathers  of  the  peacock,  which  are  not  used  by  the  bird  in 
flying,  do  not  require  this  serrated  edging,  but  hang  loosely 
and  gracefully  from  each  other,  until  meeting  at  the  "  eye," 
they  there  form  the  smooth,  glossy  assemblage  of  brilliant 
colors  for  which  the  peacock  is  so  conspicuous  and  so  well 
known. 


THE  AFRICAN  KING. 

WHATEVER  authority  this  king  may  have  over  his  people 
certainly  does  not  appear  to  be  derived  from  the  splendor 
of  his  apparel.  Crown  he  has  none,  save  the  one  tuft  of 
hair  left  upon  his  else  bare  scalp ; — the  spear  on  which  he 
leans  is  his  only  sceptre,  and  one  cannot  imagine  a  sover- 
eign with  bare  legs  and  naked  feet  bestowing  upon  any 
of  his  subjects  the  insignia  of  the  order  of  the  garter. 
Nevertheless  he  may  be  every  inch  a  king,  and  as  such  he 
may  be  introduced  to  the  reader.  This  is  Moselekatse, 
King  of  the  Amazooloo,  and  first  made  known  to  English- 
men by  Captain  Harris,  in  a  most  interesting  book  of 
Travels  in  Southern  Africa. 

Moselekatse  possessed  a  fine,  tall,  well-proportioned 
figure,  with  rather  a  pleasing  countenance,  although 
marked  with  wily  cunning  and  suspicion  ;  with  a  small 
piercing  eye,  surmounted  by  an  ample  forehead.  He 
certainly  looks  like  one  whose  courage  and  energy  mark 
him  out  as  a  king  among  the  men  of  a  wild  and  savage 


AFRICAN    KINO. 

. 


THE  AFRICAN  KING.  127 

race  ;  prompt,  stern,  and  unyielding,  his  orders  are  such 
as  ensure  swift  obedience  ;  cautious  and  slow  in  speech, 
but  rapid  and  fiery  in  action  ;  reserved  in  manner  and 
dignified  in  aspect.  Such  are  the  men  who,  in  the  early 
and  ruder  stages  of  society,  place  themselves  at  the  head 
of  their  people,  and  by  their  rugged  virtues,  and  even  by 
the  peculiar  character  of  their  vices,  help  forward  that 
onward  movement  of  the  human  race,  which,  in  spite  of 
many  checks  and  hinderances,  of  many  temporary  and 
partial  backslidings,  is  yet  real  all  the  world  over.  To 
use  Macaulay's  noble  image, — "  the  tide  of  civilization  is 
advancing,  though  each  single  wave  may  retreat  as  it 
breaks  upon  the  shore."  But  to  return  to  Moselekatse. 
His  costume  is  a  simple  girdle,  made  of  leopards'  tails, 
dangling  before  and  behind  ;  a  few  beads  round  his  neck 
complete  his  toilet.  Captain  Harris  presented  the  king 
with  a  duffel  greatcoat,  a  coil  of  brass  wire,  a  mirror, 
two  pounds  of  "  Irish  blackguard"  snuff,  and  fifty  pounds 
weight  of  blood- red  beads.  "  Hitherto  the  king  had  con- 
sidered it  beneath  his  dignity  to  evince  the  slightest  symp- 
tom of  astonishment.  His  manner  had  been  particularly 
guarded  and  sedate,  nor  had  it  been  possible  to  read  in 
his  countenance  aught  that  was  passing  in  his  bosom  ; 
but  the  sight  of  so  many  fine  things  at  once  threw  his 


128  THE  AFRICAN  KING. 

decorum  off  the  balance,  and  caused  him  for  a  moment 
to  forget  what  he  owed  to  himself  in  the  presence  of  so 
large  an  assembly.  Putting  his  thumb  between  his  teeth, 
and  opening  his  eyes  to  their  utmost  limits,  he  grinned 
like  a  school-boy  at  the  sight  of  gingerbread,  and  ex- 
claimed repeatedly,  '  Monante,  monante,  monante  :  tanta, 
tanta,  tanta  !'  (Good,  good,  good ;  bravo,  bravo,  bra- 
vo !) 

"  He  now  rose  abruptly,  big  with  some  great  conception, 
and  made  signs  to  the  parsee  to  approach  and  assist  him 
on  with  the  coat,  habited  in  which  he  strutted  several 
times  up  and  down,  viewing  his  grotesque  figure  in  the 
glass  with  evident  self-applause.  He  then  desired  Mo- 
hanycour  to  put  it  on  and  turn  about,  that  he  might  see 
if  it  fitted  behind  :  and  this  knotty  point  settled  to  his  un- 
qualified satisfaction,  he  suddenly  cast  off  his  leopards' 
tails,  and  commanded  all  hands  to  assist  in  the  difficult 
task  of  shaking  him  into  tartan  trousers.  It  was  indeed 
no  easy  work  to  perform  ;  but  once  accomplished,  his  ma- 
jesty cut  a  noble  figure.  The  parsee  wore  a  pair  of  red 
silk  braces  which  he  presently  demanded,  observing  that 
they  would  supply  the  place  of  those  which  Mrs.  Moffatt 
had  forgotten  to  send.  Shortly  after  this  he  directed  an 
attendant,  who  was  crouching  at  his  feet,  to  take  every 


THE  AFRICAN  KING.  129 

thing  to  his  kraal,  and  resuming  his  solemnity  and  his 
seat,  tea  was  brought  in." 

Thus  far  Captain  Harris ;  and  yet  this  man,  at  whose 
simplicity  and  ignorance  our  very  children  might  laugh, 
has  authority  greater  than  that  of  any  European  despot. 
He  alone  in  his  kingdom  is  rich  ;  his  subjects  are  all  equal- 
ly poor ;  the  whole  wealth  of  the  state  centres  in  him  ; 
he  has  the  power  of  life  and  death  ;  and  all  that  his  peo- 
ple have  to  do  is  to  submit  to  his  decrees. 

It  is  well  for  the  sovereign,  and  well  also  for  the  sub- 
jects, when  by  a  nation's  advancement  in  civilization  its 
rulers  need  no  longer  be  exposed  to  the  temptations  and 
responsibilities  of  unlimited  power — when  the  well-being 
of  society  depends  less  upon  the  character  and  energy  of 
an  individual  ruler,  than  upon  the  general  advancement 

of  his  people  in  virtue  and  knowledge. 

9 


COMPARATIVE  SIZE  AND  FORMATION  OF  ANIMALS. 

FROM  among  the  endless  variety  of  species  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  this  sketch  selects  a  few  of  the  most  familiar, 
and  groups  them  together  in  order  to  exhibit  their  com- 
parative sizes  ;  and  of  this  comparison  a  clearer  idea  may 
be  gained  from  this  slight  illustration,  than  from  any 
verbal  description,  however  elaborate.  Let  us,  however, 
not  limit  ourselves  to  the  mere  comparison  of  size,  but 
look  a  little  further,  and  take  notice  of  some  other  points 
of  resemblance  or  of  contrast  in  the  specimens  of  animated 
nature  here  exhibited. 

Of  all  these  animals,  differing  as  they  do  in  size  and 
shape,  the  internal  structure  is,  in  one  respect,  similar. 
They  all  have  a  spine,  or  back-bone,  or  rather  a  series  of 
bones,  fitting  one  upon  another,  and  termed  vertebrce,  and 
thus  all  these  are  classed  as  vertebrated  animals.  This 
spine  acts  not  only  as  a  support,  or  fulcrum,  for  the  whole 
animal  frame,  but  also  as  a  tube  for  the  protection  of  the 
spinal  cord  from  its  origin  at  the  base  of  the  brain  to  its 
extremity. 


COMPARATIVE  SIZE,  &c.,  OF  ANIMALS.  131 

Those  animals  which  have  no  vertebrae  are  termed  "  in- 
vertebrata,"  such  as  the  common  earth-worm,  the  crab, 
the  lobster,  the  oyster,  and  insects  generally. 

In  the  next  place,  all  these  animals,  from  the  ox  to  the 
walrus,  have  four  feet,  and  are  hence  termed  quadrupeds, 
(from  the  Latin  quatuor,  four,  and  pedes,  feet.)  The  four 
next  have  no  feet,  but  move  through  the  water  in  which 
they  live,  by  the  aid  of  their  fins  and  tail ;  and  in  this 
particular,  the  walrus  forms  a  link  between  fishes  and 
quadrupeds,  his  fore  feet  being  very  little  more  than  fins. 
Man  (whose  pigmy  dimensions  are  well  contrasted  with 
those  of  the  huge  whale)  is  termed  a  biped,  (from  bis, 
twice,  and  pedes,  feet,)  and,  in  this  respect,  birds  are  the 
only  other  animals  that  are  classed  with  him.  It  is  true 
that  -monkeys,  apes,  and  baboons,  use  their  fore  paws  as 
man  does  his  hands,  and  occasionally  stand  nearly  erect, 
but  they  do  not  naturally  or  generally  walk  as  man  does, 
on  two  feet  only,  any  more  than  man  (as  he  can  if  he 
chooses)  upon  all  fours.  On  the  other  hand,  man  is  also 
classed  as  bimana,  or  two-handed,  and  monkeys,  apes,  &c., 
as  quadrumana,  or  four-handed ;  the  hand  being  distin- 
guished from  the  foot  by  possessing  a  thumb,  which  can 
meet  or  oppose  the  other  fingers  or  toes,  and  thus  enable 
its  possessor  to  lay  hold  or  nip.  This  last  distinction  being 


132  COMPARATIVE  SIZE 

clearer  and  more  explanatory  than  the  old  one  of  biped 
and  quadruped,  is  now  generally  adopted  in  works  of 
natural  history. 

Animals  are  further  classed  under  terms  which  point 
out  the  kind  of  food  on  which  they  live.  Those  which  are 
supported  by  vegetable  food  are  termed  granivorous,  (from 
granum,  grain,  and  voro,  devour ;)  those  which  devour 
the  flesh  of  other  animals  are  termed  carnivorous,  (from 
carnis  and  voro ;  man  who  eats  both  is  termed  omnivorous, 
(from  omnis,  all,  and  voro.)  Now,  if  we  examine  the  struc- 
ture of  carnivorous  animals,  we  shall  find  them  provided 
with  claws  and  sharp-pointed  teeth,  to  enable  them  to 
seize  and  tear  their  prey ;  but  even  here  there  are  differ- 
ences. For  instance,  the  lion,  leopard,  and  other  animals 
of  the  cat  tribe,  which  lie  in  wait  for  their  prey,  and  spring 
on  it  at  a  bound,  have  their  claws  very  much  hooked, 
so  as  to  take  firm  hold  of  their  prey  at  the  moment 
of  seizure  during  its  first  violent  struggles  to  escape ; 
and  they  are  at  the  same  time  retractile,  or  capable  of 
being  drawn  back  into  the  foot  as  into  a  sheath.  The  sole 
of  the  foot  is  also  padded  with  an  elastic  substance,  which 
both  enables  the  animal  to  creep  noiselessly  up  to  its 
prey,  gives  elasticity  to  its  long  bounds,  and  breaks  the 
jar  of  its  fall.  Examine  the  foot  of  a  domestic  cat,  and 


AND  FORMATION  OF  ANIMALS.  133 

you  may  at  once  understand  how  beautifully  it  is  adapted 
for  its  natural  mode  of  acquiring  food.  When  puss  is  undis- 
turbed and  unexcited,  as  she  lies  before  the  fire,  her  velvet 
paw,  with  gentle  pat,  presents  no  sharp  talons  to  the  well- 
known  hand  that  caresses  her ;  but  if  some  mischievous 
boy  comes  near  to  seize  her,  she  begins  to  lash  her  sides 
with  her  tail,  and  the  sharp,  hooked  claws,  by  muscular 
contraction  acting  in  the  manner  of  a  hinge,  are  thrown 
forward,  and,  quick  as  thought,  punish  the  offender  with 
many  a  scratch. 

Animals  of  the  dog-species,  such  as  the  wolf,  the  hyaena, 
and  the  fox,  have  not  the  retractile  claws  of  the  cat  tribe, 
and  they  are  less  acute,  much  less  curved,  and  fixed  firmly 
to  the  toes.  These  animals  catch  their  prey,  not  by  lying 
in  wait  and  seizing  it  at  a  bound,  but  by  running  it  down, 
frequently  in  packs  ;  and  when,  either  by  superior  speed 
or  endurance,  they  have  overtaken  it,  they  seize  it  with 
their  teeth.  Most  animals  of  this  tribe  have  remarkable 
strength  of  jaw,  which  enables  them  to  gripe  firmly  in 
spite  of  the  struggles  of  their  prey  to  escape.  The  tena- 
city of  the  bull-dog  is  a  familiar  instance,  and  the  wolf  and 
the  hyaena  have  yet  greater  power.  For  this  purpose,  the 
bones,  which  form  the  jaw,  are  locked  together  very  se- 
curely, by  prominent  projections  and  deep  indentations  to 


134  COMPARATIVE  SIZE 

correspond,  by  which  the  powerful  muscles  which  act 
upon  them  have  great  purchase.  So  much  for  carnivorous 
animals. 

Now,  if  we  examine  those  which  are  herbivorous  or 
granivorous,  we  shall  generally  find  the  feet,  instead  of 
being  furnished  with  claws,  covered  with  a  horny  sub- 
stance. This,  in  the  horse,  the  ass,  and  others  of  the  same 
tribe,  forms  one  entire  circular  hoof;  in  the  ox,  the  deer, 
the  camel,  and  the  goat,  it  is  divided  into  two,  and  in  the 
elephant  and  rhinoceros  into  four  toes.  The  teeth,  instead 
of  being  formed  principally  for  seizing  and  tearing  their 
food,  are  rather  adapted  for  grinding  it ;  and  the  hinge  of 
the  jaw,  instead  of  being  firmly  locked,  so  as  to  allow  of 
very  little  motion,  but  one  directly  up  and  down,  has  more 
play,  so  as  to  allow  of  a  sideway  motion,  which  enables 
the  broad  surfaces  of  the  grinding  teeth  to  pass  over  each 
other,  like  millstones,  (hence  their  name  molares,)  and  thus 
to  crush  the  food  between  them. 

In  short,  so  beautifully  adapted  to  each  other  are  the 
different  parts  of  the  animal  frame  in  every  species  and  in 
each  individual,  that  a  skilful  comparative  anatomist,  who 
has  closely  and  accurately  observed,  can  frequently  tell, 
from  the  examination  of  a  single  bone  of  any  animal,  its 
general  character  and  habits,  and  probable  formation. 


AND  FORMATION  OF  ANIMALS.  135 

The  celebrated  Cuvier,  who,  beyond  most  naturalists, 
possessed  this  power  of  discrimination,  once  undertook 
the  examination  of  a  few  detached  fossil  bones  of  some 
animal  of  antediluvian  date.  They  differed  from  any  that 
had  been  before  discovered,  and  plainly  belonged  to  no 
animal  now  known  to  exist  upon  the  earth  ;  but  from 
these  few  relics,  Cuvier,  reasoning  from  analogy,  ventured 
to  predict  the  habits,  and  character,  and  general  form  of 
the  animal.  His  prediction  was  remarkably  verified  by 
the  subsequent  discovery  of  further  remains  of  the  animal 
nearly  or  quite  entire. 

The  elephant  and  the  giraffe  both  feed  on  the  branches 
of  trees — the  former,  which  has  hardly  any  perceptible 
neck,  reaches  its  food  by  means  of  its  long  trunk,  which 
tears  off  the  boughs,  and,  curling  inward,  puts  them  into 
its  mouth.  The  giraffe  attains  the  same  object  by  its  ex- 
traordinary length  of  neck. 

The  rhinoceros,  which  feeds  principally  by  the  banks 
of  rivers,  has  a  flexible  upper  lip,  not  prolonged  into 
a  trunk,  like  that  of  the  elephant,  but  still  with  consider- 
able power  of  extension,  to  enable  it  to  turn  round  the 
branches  of  overhanging  trees  and  the  stalks  of  rushes, 
and  to  draw  them  towards  its  mouth.  The  immense 
weight  of  the  elephant  and  rhinoceros  would  crush  the 


136  COMPARATIVE  SIZE 

horny  substance  of  a  hoof  formed  like  that  of  a  horse 
to  rest  upon  the  ground :  in  those  animals,  therefore,  the 
foot  rests  upon  a  broad  pad  or  cushion,  which  slightly 
raises  the  horny  substance  of  the  toes  from  the  ground, 
and  the  bones  of  the  leg  are  of  great  size  and  strength, 
proportionate  to  the  huge  bulk  which  presses  upon 
them. 

There  are  some  striking  points  of  contrast  between  the 
habits  and  formation  of  the  whale  and  those  of  the  shark. 

The  shark,  fierce  and  voracious,  and  thirsty  of  blood — 
the  very  tiger  of  the  ocean — is  armed  with  a  triple  row  of 
sharply  pointed  teeth ;  eagerly  devours  whatever  animal 
substance  comes  in  its  way ;  preys  as  greedily  upon  the 
wounded  of  its  own  species  as  upon  the  flesh  of  other  fish 
or  of  mankind  ;  or  of  the  salt  pork  or  beef  with  which  the 
sailor  (ever  at  fierce  warfare  with  the  shark)  baits  his 
hook. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Greenland  whale,  of  far  greater 
size,  and  with  proportionate  strength,  is  harmless  and  in- 
offensive in  its  general  habits.  It  has  no  teeth,  but  from 
its  palate  hangs  down  a  fibrous  frame-work  or  sieve,  which 
consists  of  what  is  rather  improperly  termed  " whalebone" 
The  water  is  drawn  in  enormous  quantities  into  the  huge 
animal's  vast  cavern-like  mouth,  as  he  glides  through  the 


.       AND  FORMATION  OF  ANIMALS.  137 

water  in  search  of  food  ;  and  in  passing  through  this  sieve 
it  is  filtered  from  the  quantities  of  small  marine  animals 
which  abound  in  the  ocean,  and  which  support  the  im- 
mense carcass  of  the  leviathan  of  the  deep.  The  water, 
after  being  thus  filtered,  is  blown  upward  in  jets,  through 
the  nostrils,  or  blow-holes,  situated  at  the  top  of  the  head ; 
and  these  jets,  in  calm  weather  at  sea,  may  be  seen  and 
heard  for  miles,  and  thus  betray  the  position  of  the  un- 
conscious animal  to  its  enemies.  The  tail  is  the  chief 
organ  of  locomotion  in  fishes — the  fins  act  principally  to 
balance  or  guide  the  body  of  the  animal.  Now,  most 
fishes  have  the  tail  placed  vertically ;  but  in  the  whale, 
and  others  of  its  tribe,  it  has  a  horizontal  position.  A 
little  examination  will  show  the  reason  of  this  difference. 
The  whale  cannot  breathe  under  water,  as  fishes  in  general 
do,  but  has  to  rise  at  certain  intervals  to  the  surface  to 
breathe.  To  accomplish  this  more  rapidly,  it  must  be 
evident  that  the  downward  stroke  of  the  tail,  placed  hori- 
zontally, must  be  most  efficient ;  and  the  animal  is  thus 
enabled  to  rise  from  an  immense  depth  with  astonishing 
rapidity,  and  with  a  force  which,  in  spite  of  its  enormous 
bulk,  frequently  raises  it  completely  out  of  the  water,  and 
turns  it  over  in  the  air ;  and  then,  with  frolic  gambol,  the 
huge  carcass  plunges,  head  foremost,  into  its  native  ele- 


138  COMPARATIVE  SIZE,  &c.,  OF  ANIMALS. 

ment,  which  eddies  and  boils  around  it,  and  resounds,  like 
thunder,  to  the  strokes  of  its  gigantic  tail — vividly  recalling 
to  the  astonished  beholder  the  appropriate  description  of 
Scripture,  "  There  is  that  leviathan,  whom  thou  hast  made 
to  play  therein." 

Incomplete  and  unconnected  as  are  these  examples,  my 
limits  forbid  me  to  extend  them.  A  volume,  instead  of  a 
chapter,  might  be  filled  with  a  commentary  upon  even  so 
slight  a  sketch  as  the  one  before  us ;  exhibiting,  in  the 
clearest  characters,  evidences  of  Divine  skill  and  benevo- 
lence : — skill,  in  the  wondrous  adaptation  of  means  to 
ends,  and  that  in  endless  variety — benevolence,  which 
cares  for  the  comfort  and  enjoyment  of  every  creature, 
and  provides  a  compensation  for  every  apparent  deficiency. 
If  read  in  a  spirit  of  humility  and  sincerity,  the  Book  of 
Nature  wonderfully  illustrates  the  Book  of  Revelation ; 
and  both,  even  amidst  the  mists  and  perplexities  which 
surround  us  in  this  state  of  trial  and  probation,  and  suffer 
us  to  see  but  "  as  through  a  glass  darkly,"  give  to  the  eye 
of  faith  a  glimpse  of  the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  works  of 
God,  which,  to  those  who  love  Him,  shall  one  day  be  more 
clearly  known. 


THE  MANDAN  INDIANS. 

MOST  of  us  have  read  and  heard  of  the  Red  Indians  of 
North  America,  and,  perhaps,  have  mentally  classed  them 
all  as  one  people,  speaking  the  same  language,  having  the 
same  manners  and  customs,  and  of  the  same  race.  The 
fact,  however,  is,  that  there  are  as  wide  diversities  of 
origin,  character,  habits,  and  language,  among  the  native 
tribes  scattered  over  the  North  American  continent,  as 
among  the  nations  of  Europe. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  Red  Indians  has  been  greatly 
increased  by  the  labors  of  George  Catlin,  who,  for  eight 
years,  (from  1832  to  1840,)  travelled  and  lived  among 
them  :  during  that  time  he  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of 
obtaining  every  possible  information  respecting  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  different  tribes.  He  painted  the 
portraits  of  many  of  their  principal  men  and  women ; 
he  took  sketches  of  their  dresses,  their  ceremonies,  and 
their  sports  ;  and  his  book,  which  is  profusely  illustrated 
with  outline  engravings,  taken  from  his  paintings,  will 
remain  as  a  vivid  memento  of  Indian  life,  when,  as  it  is 


140  THE  MANDAN  INDIANS. 

too  probable  will  soon  be  the  case,  the  people  whose  story 
it  records  have  utterly  disappeared  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.  This  has  already  been  the  case  with  one  tribe,  in 
many  respects  the  most  remarkable  among  all  that  he 
visited;  the  wild  and  gentlemanly  Mandans,  a  view  of 
whose  village  is  prefixed  to  this  chapter. 

At  the  time  when  Mr.  Catlin  visited  them,  the  tribe  was 
located  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  river,  about  1800 
miles  above  St.  Louis,  one  of  the  most  westerly  cities  of 
the  United  States.  The  Mandans  at  that  time  numbered 
in  all  about  2,000  souls,  who  were  divided  between  two 
villages,  situated  about  two  miles  apart. 

The  lower,  or  principal  town,  was  situated  in  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  pleasing  spots  that  could  be  found  in 
the  world,  being  in  the  very  midst  of  an  extensive  valley, 
embraced  within  a  thousand  swells,  and  parapets  or  mounds 
of  interminable  green,  changing  to  blue  as  they  vanished 
in  the  distance.  The  ground  on  which  the  village  stood 
was  a  promontory,  forty  or  fifty  feet  above  the  bed  of  the 
river,  which  there,  suddenly  changing  its  course  at  a  right- 
angle,  protected  two  sides  of  the  village,  which  had  a  most 
novel  appearance  to  the  eye  of  a  stranger. 

The  lodges,  looking  like  huge  inverted  earthen  bowls, 
were  closely  grouped  together,  leaving  but  just  room  enough 


THE  M  AND  AN  INDIANS.  141 

for  walking  and  riding  between  them.  On  entering,  the 
visitor  was  surprised  to  see  the  neatness,  comfort,  and  size 
of  these  dwellings.  They  were  all  circular,  and  from 
forty  to  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  and  were  inhabited  by  from 
twenty  to  forty  persons — a  family  and  all  their  connections. 
Their  bedsteads,  similar  in  form  to  ours,  and  neatly 
covered  with  a  sacking  and  hangings  of  buffalo-skins,  were 
uniformly  screened  with  curtains  of  buffalo  or  elk,  often 
beautifully  dressed,  and  tastefully  cut  into  fringe,  with 
handsome  ornaments  of  porcupines'  quills,  and  picture- 
writings  or  hieroglyphics.  The  fire-place  was  in  the 
centre,  immediately  under  the  circular  hole  at  the  top  of 
the  roof,  which  answered  the  double  purpose  of  skylight 
and  chimney ;  and  suspended  from  this  hole  was  generally 
seen  the  pot  or  kettle  of  buffalo-meat,  and  around  it  re- 
clined the  family,  in  the  most  picturesque  attitudes  and 
groups,  resting  on  their  buffalo  robes  and  beautiful  rush 
mats. 

The  foundations  of  their  lodges  were  prepared  by 
digging  the  ground  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  to  the  re- 
quired extent,  and  levelling  the  excavation.  The  walls 
were  then  formed  of  strong  timbers,  of  eight  or  nine  inches 
diameter,  firmly  fixed  in  the  ground  round  the  sides  thus 
prepared,  and  a  formidable  embankment  of  earth  was 


142  THE  MAN  DAN  INDIANS. 

raised  against  them  outside.  Another  series  of  timbers, 
springing  out  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees  from  the  top 
of  the  side- walls,  and  sending  their  smaller  ends  towards  the 
apex,  or  circular  hole  before  mentioned,  formed  the  roof, 
which  was  supported  and  strengthened  by  upright  pillars, 
connected  by  cross-beams.  The  whole  edifice  was  then 
covered,  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  feet,  with  earth ; 
and  over  all  was  a  plastering  of  tough  clay,  impervious  to 
water,  and  hardened  by  time  and  the  constant  use  to 
which  it  is  subjected :  for  the  roof  of  each  lodge  was  a 
lounging-place  for  the  whole  family  in  pleasant  weather 
— young  and  old  resorted  thither  for  gossip  and  mirth,  or 
for  solitary  gaze  and  contemplation. 

The  earthen  floors  were  so  hardened  by  use,  and  swept 
so  clean,  and  tracked  by  bare  and  moccasined  feet,  that 
they  became  almost  polished,  and  would  scarcely  soil  the 
whitest  linen. 

It  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  these  lodges  fifty  feet 
in  diameter  inside,  with  a  row  of  curtained  beds  extend- 
ing round  their  sides,  and  the  space  between  each  bed  oc- 
cupied by  a  large  post,  six  or  seven  feet  high,  on  which 
hung,  with  wild  and  startling  taste,  the  arms  and  armor 
of  the  proprietor  ; — his  whitened  shield,  embossed  and  em- 
blazoned— his  bow  and  quiver — his  war-club  or  battle-axe 


THE  MANDAN  INDIANS.  143 

— his  spear — his  tobacco-pouch  and  pipe — his  medicine- 
bag — and  his  head-dress  of  plumes,  taken  from  the  eagle 
or  the  raven  ;  and  over  all  stood  forth,  in  full  relief,  the 
fierce-looking  head  and  horns  of  the  buffalo,  which  was, 
by  a  universal  regulation  among  the  Mandans,  possessed 
by  every  man  in  the  tribe,  hung  at  the  head  of  his  bed,  and 
used  as  a  mask  in  the  buffalo-dance.  This  arrangement 
of  beds  and  arms,  combining  the  most  vivid  display  and 
arrangement  of  colors — of  furs,  of  trinkets,  of  barbed  and 
glistening  points  of  steel,  of  mysteries  and  hocus  pocus, 
together  with  the  sombre  and  smoked  color  of  the  interior 
of  the  lodge,  and  the  wild  and  rude  and  red-looking  groups 
that  inhabited  it — surrounded  with  their  household  imple- 
ments, all  of  their  own  manufacture, — presented  altogether 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  scenes  that  could  be  ima- 
gined. 

But  perhaps  the  most  amusing  scene  of  all,  was  that 
which  was  presented  from  the  top  of  one  of  the  lodges. 
Perched  there,  the  observer  had  the  whole  village  beneath 
and  around  him — with  its  sachems,  its  warriors,  its  dogs, 
and  its  horses  in  motion — its  medicines  (or  mysteries)  and 
scalp-poles,  waving  overhead — its  piquets — its  green  fields 
and  prairies,  and  river  in  full  view — the  whole  forming  a 
panorama  of  vivid  interest.  Mr.  Catlin  says,  "  There  are 


144  THE  MANDAN  INDIANS. 

several  hundred  houses  or  dwellings  about  me,  and  they 
are  purely  unique  ;  they  are  all  covered  with  dirt ;  the 
people  are  all  red,  and  yet  distinct  from  all  other  red  folks 
I  have  seen.  The  horses  are  wild — every  dog  is  a  wolf — 
the  whole  moving  mass  are  strangers  to  me.  The  living 
in  every  thing,  carry  an  air  of  untractable  wildness  about 
them,  and  the  dead  are  not  buried,  but  dried  upon  scaf- 
folds." For  the  Mandans  never  buried  their  dead,  but 
placed  the  bodies  on  light  scaffolds,  just  above  the  reach 
of  human  hands,  and  out  of  the  way  of  wolves  and  dogs, 
and  there  they  were  left  to  moulder  and  decay.  When- 
ever a  person  died,  and  the  customary  honors  and  condo- 
lence had  been  paid  to  the  remains,  the  body  was  dressed 
in  its  best  attire,  painted,  oiled,  and  supplied  with  bow  and 
quiver,  shield,  pipe,  and  tobacco,  knife,  flint,  and  steel,  and 
provisions  enough  to  last  him  a  few  days  on  the  journey 
he  is  about  to  perform :  a  fresh  buffalo's  skin,  taken  from 
the  animal  when  first  killed,  is  wrapped  around  the  body, 
and  tightly  bound  with  thongs  of  raw  hide,  from  head  to 
foot.  Then,  other  robes  are  soaked  in  water  till  quite 
soft,  and  these  are  also  bandaged  round  the  body  with 
great  care  and  exactness,  so  as  entirely  to  exclude  the  ac- 
tion of  the  air.  There  is  then  a  separate  scaffold  erected 
for  it,  constructed  of  four  upright  posts,  a  little  higher  than 


THE  MANDAN  INDIANS.  145 

human  hands  can  reach,  and  on  the  tops  of  these  are 
small  poles,  passing  around  from  one  post  to  the  others, 
across  which  a  number  of  willow  rods  support  the  body, 
which  is  laid  upon  its  back,  with  its  feet  carefully  pre- 
sented towards  the  rising  sun. 

A  similar  practice  takes  place  among  the  Canadian  In- 
dians ;  but  the  body,  besides  being  carefully  bandaged,  is 
placed  in  a  canoe  to  contain  it,  and  the  provisions,  arms, 
and  implements  which  these  simple  people  think  neces- 
sary for  the  voyage  to  the  other  world. 

But  to  return  to  the  Mandans : — Mr.  Catlin  describes 
them  as  a  most  interesting  and  pleasing  people  in  their 
personal  appearance  and  manners,  differing,  in  many  re- 
spects, both  in  looks  and  customs,  from  all  other  tribes  he 
had  seen.  They  were  not  a  warlike  people ;  for  they 
seldom,  if  ever,  invaded  their  enemies'  country,  but  when 
attacked,  they  showed  valor  and  courage  equal  to  that  of 
any  people  on  earth.  Being  a  small  tribe,  and  unable  to 
contend  on  the  wide  prairies  with  the  Sioux  and  other 
roaming  tribes,  who  were  ten  times  as  numerous,  they 
very  judiciously  located  themselves  in  a  permanent  village, 
which  they  strongly  fortified.  From  this  cause  they  had 
advanced  further  in  the  arts  of  manufacture,  and  had  their 
lodges  more  abundantly  supplied  with  the  comforts,  and 

10 


146  THE  M AND AN  INDIANS. 

even  luxuries  of  life, 'than  any  other  Indian  nation.  In 
consequence,  they  were  considerably  in  advance  of  other 
tribes  in  manners  and  refinements,  and  were  therefore 
familiarly  and  correctly  denominated,  by  traders  and 
others  who  had  visited  them,  "  the  polite  and  friendly 
Mandans." 

They  were  also  prominently  distinguished  from  other 
Indian  tribes,  by  having  varieties  of  complexion,  instead 
of  the  uniform  red  hue  so  characteristic  of  the  aborigines 
of  North  America,  whose  hair  also  is  invariably  jet-black, 
and  their  eyes  dark.  On  the  contrary,  many  of  the  Man- 
dans  had  a  light  complexion,  with  hazel-gray  or  blue  eyes, 
and  hair  of  various  shades,  one  especially,  which  seems  to 
distinguish  them  not  only  from  Indian,  but  from  European 
races  in  general — namely,  a  bright,  silvery  gray ;  not  the 
hoary  head  of  age,  but  a  color  which  appears  from  earliest 
youth. 

From  these  and  other  circumstances,  Mr.  Catlin  was  in- 
duced to  believe  that  the  Mandan  Indians  were  a  foreign 
race,  introduced  into  the  far  West  of  North  America  at  a 
comparatively  recent  period ;  and  he  goes  so  far  as  to 
speculate  on  the  probability  of  their  having  been  descend- 
ants of  the  Welsh  colony,  which,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  sailed  from  our  shores,  under  Prince 


THE  MANDAN  INDIANS.  147 

Madoc,  and,  according  to  tradition,  landed  in  some  part  of 
North  or  South  America. 

Remains  of  villages  and  fortifications,  erected  in  the 
manner  of  those  of  the  Mandans,  have  been  traced  up 
the  Mississippi,  to  its  junction  with  the  Ohio  and  the 
Missouri — along  the  first  of  these  two  rivers  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cincinnati,  and  in  several  places  on  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri  to  the  spot  eighteen  hundred  miles  above 
St.  Louis,  (as  before  stated,)  where  this  interesting  tribe 
became  utterly  extinct,  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  of 
the  small-pox  in  1837  and  1838.  Some  thirty  or  forty 
escaped  the  disease,  and  were  taken  as  slaves  by  the  Ric- 
carees — the  rest  were  all  swept  away. 

One  incident  in  the  last  days  of  the  Mandan  nation  is 
of  thrilling  interest.  Mah-to-toh-pa,  the  hero  of  his  tribe 
— handsome,  hospitable,  generous,  and  brave — a  noble 
and  a  gentle  man — after  recovering  from  the  fell  disease 
himself,  watched  every  member  of  his  family  perish  be- 
neath its  deadly  ravages — his  wives  and  all  his  little  ones  ; 
— he  wandered  into  the  village,  and  wept  to  find  his 
friends  and  his  kinsmen  no  more  ; — sachems  and  saga- 
mores— the  wise  in  council  and  the  brave  in  action — were 
all  laid  low.  He  returned  to  his  own  abode — the  abode 
of  death — covered  the  bodies  of  his  family  with  the 


148  THE  HAND  AN  INDIANS. 

funeral  robes,  wrapped  another  round  himself,  and  went 
out  upon  a  hill  at  a  little  distance,  where  he  lay,  in  spite 
of  all  the  solicitations  of  the  white  traders  who  were 
there,  resolved  to  starve  himself  to  death.  There  he  re- 
mained till  the  sixth  day,  when  he  entered  the  horrid 
gloom  of  his  own  wigwam,  and  laying  his  body  beside  the 
group  of  his  family,  drew  his  robe  over  him,  and  died  on 
the  ninth  day  of  his  total  abstinence. 

So  perished  Mah-to-toh-pa,  a  chief  endowed  with  vir- 
tues which,  under  the  benign  and  regulating  influence  of 
true  Christianity,  would  have  made  him  a  blessing  and  an 
ornament  to  any  nation  upon  earth. 

In  corroboration  of  his  idea  of  the  Mandans  being  de- 
scended from  the  Welsh,  Mr.  Catlin  gives  instances  of 
several  elementary  words  in  Mandan  and  Welsh  which 
are  almost  identical.  The  Mandan  canoes,  also,  are  alto- 
gether different  from  those  of  other  Indians,  and  exactly 
resemble  the  Welsh  coracle,  being  made  of  raw  hides, 
stretched  underneath  a  frame- work  of  wood,  and  shaped 
nearly  round,  like  a  tub.  A  woman  would  carry  one  on 
her  head  from  her  wigwam  to  the  water's  edge,  and  hav- 
ing stepped  into  the  coracle,  stand  in  front,  and  propel  it 
by  dipping  her  paddle  forward  and  drawing  it  to  her,  in- 
stead of  paddling  by  the  side. 


BURIAL  CANOF.. — XORTH  AMF.RICA. 


THE  M  AND  AN  INDIANS.  149 

The  prairies  of  North  America,  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
abound  with  vast  herds  of  buffaloes,  which  form  almost 
the  entire  food  of  many  Indian  nations,  who  have  many 
modes  of  hunting  down  these  powerful  animals.  One  of 
the  most  characteristic  is  represented  in  the  opposite  cut. 
Besides  buffaloes,  the  prairies  abound  with  wolves ;  and 
of  these  animals  the  buffaloes,  when  herded  together, 
appear  to  have  very  little  dread,  and  allow  them  ^to  ap- 
proach very  nearly.  The  Indian,  knowing  this  fact,  covers 
himself  with  the  skin  of  a  wolf,  drawing  the  head  over  his 
own  shoulders,  and,  armed  with  the  short,  sinewy  bow, 
and  a  handful  of  arrows,  crawls  towards  the  herd  on  his 
hands  and  knees,  until  he  approaches  within  a  few  rods 
of  the  unsuspecting  group,  and  easily  shoots  down  the 
fattest  of  the  throng. 


A  WAEBOW  VILLAGE-GUIANA. 

IN  the  northwest  of  South  America,  between  the  great 
rivers  Oronoco  and  Amazon,  is  the  Warrow  country — a 
land,  in  some  respects,  similar  to  that  of  Ashantee,  de- 
scribed in  a  previous  chapter.  The  vegetation  is  equally 
luxuriant,  but  the  climate  is  less  deadly ;  the  inhabitants 
have  not  the  wild  and  savage  energy  of  the  Ashantees, 
but  having  all  the  necessaries  of  life  at  hand,  without  the 
need  of  cultivating  the  soil,  they  indulge  in  a  luxurious 
indolence,  which  is  equally  unfavorable  to  their  advance- 
ment in  civilization. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  country  is  under  water 
for  three-fourths  of  the  year,  and  from  this  circumstance 
the  Warrows  are  almost  amphibious.  They  build  their 
habitations  about  four  feet  from  the  ground,  upon  the 
stems  of  eta- trees,  which  grow  in  very  thick  clusters. 
Many  of  these  huts  are  very  large,  being  capable  of  ac- 
commodating one  hundred  and  fifty  people,  who  are  all 
slung  in  hammocks,  which  serve  them  both  for  bed  and 


A  WARROW  VILLAGE,  GUIANA.  151 

chair,  and  are,  in  fact,  almost  the  only  furniture  they  use 
or  require.  At  night,  a  fire  made  close  to  the  hammock, 
envelops  it  in  smoke,  which  keeps  off  the  swarms  of 
moschetoes  and  sand-flies  that  infest  this  land  of  mud, 
and  slime,  and  water,  and  overhanging  boughs  ;  and  in 
this  cloud  the  Warrow,  from  long  use,  luxuriates  where 
we  should  be  more  than  half  blinded  and  suffocated. 

The  waters  flowing  beneath  and  around  the  floor  of 
their  abodes  abound  with  fish,  which  forms  the  chief  food 
of  the  people,  almost  all  of  whose  industry  and  ingenuity 
are  displayed  in  the  construction  of  their  canoes,  and  the 
singular  abodes  we  have  described. 


PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP. 

WHEN  we  see  a  large  ship  of  war  at  anchor  in  the 
smooth  water  of  a  harbor,  or  river,  and  gaze  upward  at 
the  huge  hull  whose  bulging  sides,  serried  with  grim  can- 
non, rise  like  an  overhanging  mountain  above  the  tiny 
boat  in  which  we  steal  timidly  beneath  her  dark  shadow, 
OUT  first  thought  is,  that  it  must  be  impossible  for  any  waves, 
however  stormy,  materially  to  affect  the  security  and  equi- 
librium of  so  vast  a  mass  : — our  second  recalls  to  mind  the 
"  ower  true  tale"  of  many  a  vessel  as  gallant  and  as  ma- 
jestic, utterly  shipwrecked,  and  bids  us  shrink  at  the  might 
of  those  winds  and  waves  which  can  toss  in  wild  play  and 
dash  to  atoms  the  mightiest  work  of  man,  as  if  it  were  but 
a  light  seaweed  on  the  raging  foam. 

There  she  lies,  as  if  imbedded  firmly  as  a  rock,  motion- 
less in  the  clear  fluid  which  gently  heaves  and  ripples 
around  her  : — her  tall  masts,  with  all  their  "  tracery"  of 
spars  and  cordage,  shooting  erect  and  fair  into  the  sky  : — 
and  to  a  landsman  it  requires  an  effort  of  thought  to  pic- 
ture that  which  now  appears  the  very  image  of  magnifi- 


PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP.  153 

cent  repose,  of  immoveable  stability,  transformed  into  a 
shattered  wreck,  "  driven  by  the  wind  and  tossed," — 
plunging  and  heaving,  with  restless  struggling,  amidst  op- 
posing billows,  the  veriest  toy  for  the  sport  of  old  ocean, 
in  his  wildest  freaks. 

"  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships, — that  do  busi- 
ness in  great  waters, — these  see  the  works  of  the  Lord  and 
His  wonders  in  the  deep." 

Among  the  many  perils  of  the  sea,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  and  uncommon  is  the  subject  of  the  annexed 
cut%  which  is  intended  to  represent  the  Maelstroom,  a 
fearful  whirlpool  which  exists  south  of  the  Loffoden  Isles, 
off  the  rocky  and  deeply-indented  coast  of  Norway. 
Various  speculations  have  been  entered  into  as  to  the 
cause  of  this  extraordinary  whirlpool,  and  some  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  account  for  it  by  imagining  the  existence 
of  a  vast  hollow  at  the  bottom  of  this  part  of  the  ocean, 
by  which  the  waters  of  the  Northern  Ocean  have  a  sub- 
terranean communication  with  the  Baltic  sea  on  the  other 
side  of  Norway.  Its  existence,  however,  appears  to  be 
sufficiently  accounted  for  without  resorting  to  so  extraor- 
dinary a  notion  as  this ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
extent  and  violence  of  this  whirlpool,  like  those  of  Scylla 
and  Charybdis  in  ancient  times,  have  been  somewhat  ex- 


154  PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP. 

aggerated :  or  rather,  perhaps,  that  to  the  smaller  vessel 
and  less  skilful  mariners  of  former  ages  the  danger  was 
much  greater  than  it  is  to  modern  navigators. 

The  force  of  the  Maelstroom  increases  and  diminishes 
with  the  changes  of  the  tides,  and  the  simple  fact  appears 
to  be,  that  at  this  part  of  the  ocean  two  tides,  flowing  in 
different  directions,  meet  twice  during  the  twenty-four 
hours,  and  by  their  meeting,  in  a  part  hemmed  in  as  it 
were  by  the  direction  and  shape  of  the  islands  and  main- 
land of  this  part  of  Norway,  the  waters  are  whirled  round 
with  great  rapidity,  and,  as  in  all  similar  circumstances, 
they  are  heaped  up  at  the  circumference  of  the  whirlpool 
and  depressed  into  a  hollow  at  its  centre,  until  it  really 
has  the  appearance  of  being  sucked  in,  and  disappearing 
through  some  abyss. 

A  somewhat  similar  effect,  but  to  a  much  less  extent,  is 
produced  by  the  same  cause  off  the  Isle  of  Portland,  on 
the  south  coast  of  England.  It  is  there  called  "  the  Race 
of  Portland"  and  vessels  guided  by  inexperienced  or  un- 
watchful  steersmen  may  get  drawn  in  and  dashed  upon 
the  shore,  beyond  the  possibility  of  escape,  by  the  mere 
force  of  the  whirling  current,  caused  by  one  tide  rolling  up 
the  channel  from  the  Atlantic,  meeting  another  tide  rush- 
ing from  the  North  Sea  through  the  Straits  of  Dover. 


PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP.  155 

Another  and  a  more  common  peril  of  the  deep,  is  that 
arising  from  rocks  wholly  or  partially  covered  by  the  wa- 
ter. Great  care  is  taken  to  lay  down  most  accurately  the 
position  of  such  as  these  in  all  nautical  charts,  and  equal 
or  still  greater  care  and  watchfulness  are  required  by  the 
mariner  to  ascertain  the  exact  position  of  his  vessel  on  the 
trackless  ocean,  so  as  to  avoid  the  spot  where  such  rocks 
lie  hid.  It  has  been  well  said,  that  the  sailor  dreads  the 
land  more  than  the  sea.  When  near  the  shore,  although 
that  shore  be  his  country,  the  home  of  all  he  holds  dear, 
the  anxious  captain  paces  the  deck  night  after  night,  con- 
stantly consults  the  barometer,  takes  frequent  celestial  ob- 
servations, to  ascertain  the  exact  position  of  his  vessel,  and 
dreads  above  all  things  a  bewildering  fog  on  a  lee  shore. 
The  same  captain,  when  in  the  centre  of  the  Atlantic,  a 
thousand  miles  away  from  land,  can,  if  his  ship  be  sound 
and  well  appointed,  sleep  soundly  at  night,  amidst  the 
roaring  of  the  wind  and  the  heaving  of  billows,  trusting  to 
the  ordinary  care  of  the  officers  of  the  night-watch,  who 
pace  the  deck  in  turns  during  the  hours  of  darkness,  while 
the  gallant  vessel  holds  on  her  way  above  the  ocean 
depths. 

In  order  to  provide  for  the  greater  safety  of  the  passen- 
gers and  crew  in  case  of  shipwreck,  it  is  now  becoming 


156  PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP. 

more  common  to  divide  the  interior  of  ships  into  several 
compartments,  each  separated  by  water-tight  divisions,  so 
that  if  from  a  leak  or  other  cause  any  one  compartment 
should  be  filled  with  water,  the  buoyancy  of  the  others 
would  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  ship  afloat,  and  give  those 
who  sail  in  her,  time  and  opportunity  to  provide  for  their 
escape. 

The  "  Great  Britain"  iron  steam-ship,  which  has  been 
before  alluded  to,  is  thus  provided,  and  the  material  of 
which  she  is  built  is  much  better  adapted  for  such  a  mode 
of  construction  than  wood,  as  a  degree  of  strength  is  ob- 
tained by  iron  plates  of  very  moderate  thickness,  superior 
to  that  afforded  by  massy  and  cumbersome  bulk-heads 
formed  of  timber. 

The  Great  Britain  carries  out  with  her  four  large  life- 
boats of  iron  and  two  boats  of  wood,  which  are  suspended 
over  the  sides  of  the  ship,  while  one  large  life-boat  is  on 
the  deck.  Four  hundred  persons  can  be  accommodated 
in  the  boats ;  to  which,  however,  we  may  hope  they  will 
not  have  to  resort,  in  consequence  of  shipwreck. 

A  life-boat  is  kept  at  most  of  the  principal  stations  round 
the  British  coast,  which  is  in  many  parts  very  dangerous 
to  mariners,  from  the  varied  dangers  of  rocks,  shoals, 
tides,  and  currents.  To  these  very  dangers,  perhaps,  the 


PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP.  157 

English  sailors  owe  their  superior  skill  and  courage, 
which  give  them  the  pre-eminence  in  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

One  can  hardly  mention  the  life-boat  without  thinking 
of  Grace  Darling,  a  young  woman  who  with  her  aged 
father,  the  keeper  of  the  Longstone  lighthouse,  on  the 
coast  of  Northumberland,  saved  the  surviving  crew  and 
passengers  of  the  Forfar  steamer,  which  had  struck  on  the 
rocks.  The  sea  was  raging  furiously,  but  this  noble  girl, 
forgetting  all  fear  in  her  desire  to  save  the  lives  of  her 
fellow-creatures,  braved  dangers  from  which  hardy  and 
skilful  seamen  shrunk,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
wreck  and  rescuing  nine  of  the  survivors.  Grace  Darling's 
name  immediately  became  the  theme  of  every  tongue ; 
the  lone  lighthouse,  where  the  shipwrecked  had  been  so 
hospitably  received,  became  the  resort  of  the  noble  and 
the  fashionable,  and  praises,  and  gifts,  and  honors,  from 
every  quarter,  were  showered  upon  the  heroine.  Under 
these  circumstances,  Grace  Darling  showed  a  strength  of 
mind  and  a  true  greatness  of  soul,  greater  even  than  that 
which  had  enabled  her  to  meet  the  raging  of  the  sea  at 
the  call  of  humanity.  Undazzled  by  the  glare  of  fame, 
untempted  by  the  offers  of  emolument,  which  flowed  from 
every  quarter,  she  lived  content  in  her  humble  home,  ful- 


158  PERILS  OF  THE  DEEP. 

filling  to  the  last  her  daily  duties,  as  cheerfully  as  if  she 
had  never  been  aught  but  one  of  those — 

"  Of  whom  fame  speaks  not  with  her  clarion  voice," 

and  died  in  1842,  loved  and  regretted,  as  well  as  honored, 
at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven,  the  very  type  of  a  true- 
hearted  English  maiden,  gentle  and  brave. 


THE  RIVER  THAMES. 

IN  a  former  portion  of  this  volume  the  Thames  has  been 
alluded  to,  in  contrast  with  the  far  mightier  rivers  of  the 
western  hemisphere ;  and  here  we  have  a  view  of  the 
bubbling  fountain-head  which  gives  birth  to  the  river, 
whose  gentle  stream,  narrow  and  insignificant  as  it  may 
be,  compared  with  others,  bears  on  its  smooth  surface  a 
richer  freightage,  and  a  far  more  numerous  fleet,  than  any 
other  of  the  wide  world's  waters. 

The  source  of  the  Thames  lies  among  the  Cotswold 
hills,  which  run  in  a  direction  northeast  and  southwest 
through  Gloucestershire.  These  hills  rise  abruptly  from 
the  rich  valley  of  the  Severn,  in  bold  ridges,  which,  in  the 
southern  portion  of  their  range,  are  clothed,  from  their 
base  to  their  summit,  with  overhanging  woods  of  beech, 
save  here  and  there,  where  some  opening  in  the  woods 
leaves  exposed  the  limestone  cliff,  contrasting,  by  its  light 
hue,  with  the  dark  surrounding  mass  of  foliage  and  boughs. 

Immediately  beyond  this  ridge  and  the  winding  valleys, 


160  THE  RIVER  THAMES. 

(each  with  its  clear  running  stream,)  which  everywhere 
deeply  indent  the  range  of  hills,  the  country  suddenly 
loses  its  rich  and  romantic  aspect ;  we  leave  the  woods 
and  the  deep  glens,  in  the  recesses  of  whose  twilight 
sparkles  the  merry  running  water,  where  the  trout  leaps 
and  the  dragon-fly  glances,  and  emerge  upon  a  high,  open 
table-land,  bleak  and  bare  of  trees,  and  divided  by  rough 
stone- walls.  And  in  this  high  table-land,  thus  rising  over 
the  Vale  of  Severn,  is  born  her  sister  river,  whose  winding 
stream  is  as  gentle  and  as  clear,  and  as  equal  in  its  depth 
and  in  its  flow,  as  the  other,  rushing  onward  from  the 
lofty  mountains  of  North  Wales,  is  swift  and  turgid,  and 
abounding  with  shoals. 

At  Lechlade  the  Thames  first  becomes  navigable  for 
barges,  and  from  this  point  to  London  Bridge  the  dis- 
tance, following  the  windings  of  the  river,  is  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

As  it  flows  on  towards  Oxford,  it  is  augmented  by 
several  tributary  streams,  the  principal  of  which  are  the 
Windrush,  flowing  by  Burford  and  Witney,  and  the  Even- 
lode,  rising  near  Stow  in  the  Wold.  From  Oxford,  the 
Thames  runs  southward  by  Abingdon  and  Wallingford 
till  it  approaches  Reading,  where  it  is  joined  by  the 
Kennett,  and  a  little  further  down,  by  the  Loddon.  Then, 


THE  RIVER  THAMES.  161 

sweeping  northward,  and  then  again  eastward  and  south- 
ward, in  many  a  bold,  winding  reach,  it  passes  Henley,  Great 
Mario  w,  and  Maidenhead,  between  beautifully  wooded  cliffs, 
or  among  rich  pastures,  until  it  reflects  the  royal  and  ban- 
nered towers  of  Windsor,  and  the  classic  hall  of  Eton. 
Between  Staines  and  Kingston  it  is  joined  by  the  Coin,  the 
Mole,  and  the  Wey,  and  soon  afterwards,  at  Teddington, 
(probably  a  corruption  of  Tide-end-town,)  feels  the  alter- 
nate ebb  and  flow  of  the  ocean  tide.  From  Richmond  and 
Kew,  it  flows  on  in  a  direction  nearly  due  east,  until  it  re- 
flects the  many  shadows  of  the  great  metropolis ; — temple, 
and  tower,  and  bridge — warehouse,  and  wharf,  and  pier — 
the  busy,  restless  crowd  of  vessels,  ever  shifting  and 
gliding — and,  over  all,  the  never-ceasing  cloud  of  smoke, 
which  dims  the  pale  blue  of  our  English  skies,  even  on 
the  brightest  summer's  day.  But  of  London  and  its 
wonders  we  have  already  spoken,  and  leaving  them  be- 
hind, the  river  glides  onward,  past  dock-yard  and  arsenal, 
the  naval  hospital,  and  the  far-famed  observatory  of 
Greenwich,  with  the  marshes  of  Essex  on  its  left  bank, 
and  on  its  right,  the  wooded  knolls  and  pleasant  orchards 
of  Kent.  There,  Tilbury  Fort  sends  us  back  to  the  days 
of  Elizabeth  and  the  Spanish  Armada,  and  the  great 

names  of  Burleigh  and  Walsingham,  Drake  and  Raleigh  ; 

11 


162  THE  RIVER  THAMES. 

here,  Gravesend,  with  its  crowds  of  citizens,  rejoicing  in 
their  temporary  exchange  of  the  smoke  of  rival  steamers 
for  that  of  the  Great  City,  and  the  bustle  and  noise  of 
holiday-making  for  that  of  business,  recalls  our  thoughts 
to  the  present  time.  A  few  miles  onward,  and  the  river 
widens  into  an  estuary,  which  receives  the  waters  of  the 
Medway  ;  and  the  united  streams,  gradually  receiving,  as 
their  shores  recede,  the  swell  of  ocean,  mingle  their  waters 
with  his,  and  take  his  name. 

Thus  Time,  as  he  rolls  onward,  is  lost  in  the  depths 
of  eternity,  to  which  we,  like  barks  upon  the  river,  are 
ever  hastening.  Happy  they  who  have  committed  the 
guidance  of  their  souls  to  Him  who  rules  the  winds  and 
waves,  and  who,  amidst  all  the  storms  and  trials  of  life, 
can  smile  and  say, 

"  My  Father's  at  the  helm !" 


THE  EAGLE. 

IN  all  ages  and  in  all  climes  the  eagle  has  been  the 
type  of  swiftness,  and  strength,  and  dominion.  The 
unconquered  legions  of  ancient  Rome — the  victorious 
hosts  of  Napoleon — the  star-spangled  banner  of  Columbia 
— over  all  these  hovers  the  image  of  the  king  of  birds ; 
and  with  some  of  these  has  he  become  an  emblem  of 
power,  gained  by  tyranny  and  wrong — of  dominion,  upheld 
by  craft  and  oppression,  by  cruelty  and  bloodshed. 

And  yet,  in  truth,  he  is  a  noble  bird,  whose  nature  and 
whose  pursuits  man  has  libelled  and  caricatured  when  he 
has  pretended  to  emulate  them.  The  eagle,  fierce  though 
he  be,  is  not  wantonly  cruel ;  his  pounce  is,  in  general,  a 
sudden,  untorturing  death-stroke,  and  he  slays  but  to  sup- 
ply food  for  himself  and  his  nestlings  :  in  his  bloodshed  he 
but  fulfils  the  end  of  his  being,  acts  but  in  accordance 
with  the  constitution  of  that  nature  with  which  his  Ma- 
ker has  endowed  him  ;  but  man — who  can  say  that  man 
does  not  pervert  and  outrage  his  ? 


164  THE  EAGLE. 

Mudie  gives  a  very  animated  description  of  the  eagle. 
"  They  are,"  says  he,  "  in  all  respects  the  birds  of  the 
greatest  elevation.  They  frequent  more  lonely  and  se- 
cluded places — they  nestle  in  more  elevated,  wild,  and  in- 
accessible rocks — they  rise  much  higher,  and  range  much 
further,  and  their  stoop,  when  they  come  down  on  their 
prey  from  a  great  elevation,  is,  perhaps,  the  grandest  dis- 
play in  the  whole  action  of  animated  nature.  Though  all 
birds  are  formed  of  nearly  the  same  materials,  these  seem 
consolidated,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  in  every  part  of  the 
eagle.  Their  bones  are  more  solid,  and  specifically  heavy ; 
and  though,  like  the  bones  of  all  birds,  they  are  hollow,  for 
the  free  admission  of  air,  they  are  fortified  by  cross  pieces 
extending  from  side  to  side  of  the  tubes,  so  as  to  offer 
complete  resistance  to  every  strain  of  the  naturally  violent 
motions  of  the  birds.  Their  muscles  are  as  firm  as  pieces 
of  cable,  and  their  tendons  almost  as  rigid  as  dried  catgut. 
Their  very  feathers  have  a  firmness  and  strength  in  them 
that  alone  would  tell  the  daring  and  enduring  charac- 
ter of  the  birds.  Those  winds  which  cleave  the  oak, 
and  rend  up  the  mountain-pine  by  the  roots,  do  not  ruffle 
the  plumage  of  the  mountain-eagle,  or  drive  her  from  her 
perch  on  the  edge  of  the  rock.  Firmly  rooted  in  the  pow- 
erful clutch  of  her  feet,  and  defended  by  the  plaited  mail 


THE  EAGLE.  165 

of  her  stiff,  though  elastic  feathers,  she  defies  the  topmost 
bent  of  the  elements,  and  from  the  *  munition  of  rocks'  looks 
down  unconcerned  upon  the  tempest  which  is  sweeping 
the  world  below  her  with  terror  and  devastation.  The 
range  of  her  eye  is  truly  wonderful.  Floating  hundreds 
of  feet  above  the  summits  of  our  highest  mountains — and 
she  always  soars  aloft,  even  there — her  horizon  commands 
a  hundred  dells  and  valleys,  and  she  spies  a  grouse  or  a 
mountain-hare  from  a  distance  at  which  the  human  eye 
could  hardly  discern  an  elephant.  But  as  she  dwells  in 
power,  she  also  dwells  in  peace.  There  is  no  tumult  or 
clamor  in  the  eyry  of  the  eagle ;  she  merely  seeks  food 
for  herself  and  her  young,  and  when  that  has  been  ob- 
tained she  is  at  rest ;  and  all  under  her  dominion  are  safe, 
for  even  the  boldest  and  swiftest-winged  hawks  keep 
at  a  distance  from  the  retreat  of  the  eagle,  and  when  her 
shadow  passes  over  the  valley,  not  a  wing  moves  but  her 
own." 

There  is  great  beauty  and  force  in  this  description,  the 
author  of  which — a  Scotchman — appears  to  have  watched 
the  birds  with  the  eye  of  a  poet  and  a  naturalist,  as  they 
floated  over  the  mountains  and  glens  of  his  native  High- 
lands. The  eagle  is  now  but  seldom  seen  in  the  southern 
and  more  cultivated  parts  of  Britain  ;  and  as  population 


166  THE  EAGLE. 

becomes  more  dense,  and  the  face  of  the  country  better 
covered  in  the  more  remote  parts  of  the  island,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  species,  like  the  wolf,  the  elk,  and  the  beaver, 
(all  in  former  times  natives  of  our  island,)  will  become 
extinct. 

I  know  few  things  more  touching  than  the  expression  in 
the  eye  of  a  captive  eagle.  The  plumage,  soiled  and  rum- 
pled, has  none  of  the  rich,  brown  lustre  which  the  free 
winds  gave — the  attitude,  though  still  dignified  and  un- 
subdued, has  lost  its  exulting  fierceness ;  but  the  eye  is  yet 
bright — ay,  very  bright,  and  ^eems,  while  the  gaping 
crowd  that  surrounds  its  miserable  cage  is  utterly  un- 
noticed, to  gaze  through  its  prison-bars  into  the  dim  dis- 
tance, far,  far  away.  It  is  as  though  the  soaring  spirit  of 
the  bird  had  wandered  forth  beyond  the  prison  which  for- 
bade its  bodily  flight ;  and  the  eye,  with  proud,  yet  fond 
regret,  watched  it  beyond  the  clouds  that  surround  his  na- 
tive rocks,  and  sought  to  forget  its  captivity. 

Poor  bird  ! — fit  emblem  no  longer  of  sovereignty  and 
might — no  longer  a  leader  of  bannered  hosts,  marching 
forth  to  the  slaughter — but  rather,  true  type,  in  this  thy 
prison,  of  a  yet  nobler  existence.  Thy  keen,  far-seeing, 
earth-despising  gaze,  images  the  spirit  of  the  Christian, 
rising  beyond  the  chains  and  encumbrances  of  this  mortal 


THE  EAGLE.  167 

state,  while  "  forgetting  those  things  that  are  behind,  it 
reaches  forward  unto  those  that  are  before  ;"  and  his  eye, 
single  and  unwavering  as  thy  own,  looks  beyond  the  vani- 
ties that  surround  him,  and  with  a  glance,  which,  though 
keen  and  bright,  has  lost  the  original  fierceness  of  its  na- 
ture, gazes  upon  the  realities  of  the  coming  eternity. 


AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO. 

THE  vast  island,  or  rather  continent  of  Australia,  differs 
from  the  other  portions  of  the  known  world  in  many 
important  particulars — in  its  peculiarities  of  soil,  climate, 
and  geographical  features,  and  in  its  animal  and  vegetable 
productions. 

For  instance,  its  largest  rivers,  instead  of  widening  and 
deepening  as  they  flow  onward  from  their  source,  and 
pouring  a  broader  stream  into  the  ocean,  gradually  di- 
minish after  leaving  the  hill  country,  and  finally  disappear, 
before  they  reach  the  coast,  in  chains  of  pools  and  vast 
tracts  of  morass,  or  else  diffuse  their  waters  into  a  broad 
but  shallow  lake,  which  partly  evaporates,  and  partly 
creeps  or  soaks  into  the  sea  by  some  narrow  and  insignifi- 
cant outlet,  choked  up  with  sand.  Besides  this,  many 
of  the  Australian  rivers,  as  well  as  the  inland  lakes,  are 
as  salt  as  the  ocean  itself. 

In  most  other  countries  we  find  that  well- watered  and 
fertile  districts  abound  in  the  plains,  and  that  desolation 
and  sterility  are  associated  with  high  lands,  mountains, 


KANGAROO. 


AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO.  169 

and  rocks.  In  Australia  the  reverse  of  all  this  holds  good. 
The  mountain  districts,  and  the  terraces  at  their  feet,  by 
which  the  traveller  sinks  into  the  dead  level  country,  are 
fertile,  well  watered,  and  picturesque,  abounding  with 
vegetable  productions  of  a  peculiar  character,  quite  dis- 
tinct from  those  of  our  hemisphere,  and  enlivened  by  birds 
of  brilliant  plumage. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  plains,  which  are  of  immense 
extent,  and  with  an  horizon  as  unvaried  as  that  of  the 
wide  ocean,  are,  for  the  most  part,  alternately  arid  deserts 
or  impassable  swamps,  and  in  either  case  are  dreary  and 
desolate.  During  the  long  droughts,  which  periodically 
prevail  in  Australia,  they  are  a  dry  waste,  where  "the 
dust  groweth  into  hardness,  and  the  clods  cleave  fast  to- 
gether ;"  hardly  a  bird  is  seen,  and  the  vegetable  kingdom 
is  almost  annihilated  ;  the  beds  of  the  exhausted  rivers 
are  crusted  with  salt,  and  on  the"  dusty  banks  wither  in 
heaps  the  parched  stems  of  the  dead  marsh-plants. 

After  the  wet  season,  which  follows  the  years  of  drought, 
the  same  district  generally  becomes  an  almost  impassable 
bog,  full  of  water-holes,  or  else  an  immense  inland  sea,  in 
which  stand  rotting  the  bare  trunks  of  full-grown  trees. 
A  few  months  afterwards,  and  this  inland  sea  will  probably 
have  become  a  grassy  plain. 


170  AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO. 

Australia,  in  fact,  appears  to  be  really  new  land — not 
merely  new  to  us,  but  of  much  more  recent  formation 
than  our  northern  continents,  and  to  be  undergoing  at 
this  very  time  a  state  of  transition,  in  which,  by  means 
at  first-sight  inadequate  to  work  such  mighty  changes, 
this  country  is  becoming  gradually  but  surely  fitted,  more 
and  more,  for  the  abode  of  man  ;  and  we  may  anticipate 
the  time  when  its  now  barren  plains  will  produce  food  and 
sustenance  for  nations  as  numerous  as  those  which  crowd 
the  most  populous  districts  of  Europe  or  Asia. 

"  Known  unto  God  are  all  His  works,  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  ;"  and  may  not  we,  his  rational  creatures, 
take  glimpses  of  the  wonderful  working  of  His  creative 
power,  still  in  active  exercise  upon  the  earth  ?  May  we 
not,  without  presumption,  speculate  on  the  benevolent  pro- 
visions of  that  all-seeing  wisdom,  by  the  operation  of 
which,  through  ages  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  time  until 
now,  this  beautiful  and  glorious  earth  has  been  prepared, 
and  is  yet  preparing,  for  the  reception  of  His  creatures — 
fitted  more  and  more  to  minister  to  their  production,  their 
sustenance,  and  their  delight  ? 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  at  a  period  comparatively 
recent,  (recent,  that  is,  contrasted  with  the  time  when  the 
other  continents  took  their  present  general  aspect,)  the 


AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO.  17l 

vast  level  plains  in  the  interior  of  Australia  have  been 
raised  above  the  surface  of  the  ocean  : — that  its  mountains 
and  elevated  terraces  were  then  islands,  similar  in  charac- 
ter to  those  fair  gems  of  earth  which  are  so  profusely  scat- 
tered over  the  Pacific ;  and  that  its  rivers  were  at  that 
time  island  mountain  torrents,  each  of  which  once  found  a 
short  and  rapid  passage  to  the  ocean,  but  which  now, 
when  once  they  have  left  the  falling  country,  wind  their 
sluggish  and  uncertain  course  amidst  the  dead  levels  of 
the  newly-raised  land,  and,  as  before  observed,  lose  them- 
selves in  pools  and  marshes.  But  year  by  year,  and  cen- 
tury after  century,  these  streams  are  wearing  for  them- 
selves a  deeper  and  more  continuous  channel  to  the  coast, 
(whose  barrier  of  coral  rocks  is  the  wondrous  work  of 
myriads  of  minute  sub-marine  animals.)  And  the  time 
may,  with  great  probability,  be  anticipated,  when  mighty 
rivers — the  Lachlan  and  the  Macquarie,  the  Darling,  the 
Morrumbidgee,  and  the  Murray,  with  their  numerous  trib- 
utaries, all  now  detached  and  broken,  will  form  a  mag- 
nificent assemblage  of  connected  rivers,  opening  up  to  the 
ocean  upwards  of  4000  miles  of  inland  navigation,  in 
southern  and  eastern  Australia,  and  watering  an  extent 
of  country  of  not  less  than  40,000  square  miles.  And,  in 
the  mean  time,  just  consider  how,  by  the  floods  of  the  wet 


172  AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO. 

years,  the  land,  hitherto  a  waste,  barren  as  the  sea-shore, 
is  becoming  covered  by  the  rich  alluvial  deposits,  brought 
by  the  floods  from  the  mountain  ranges.  And  again — 
how  the  very  destruction  of  vegetable  life,  consequent  on 
the  long-continued  droughts,  provides  layers  of  nutriment 
for  future  generations  of  plants  of  a  superior  class,  and 
suitable  for  the  countless  flocks  and  herds  which  accom- 
pany man  and  minister  to  his  wants. 

With  one  exception,  all  the  trees  of  Australia  are  ever- 
greens, and  from  the  smoked  color  of  their  leaves,  they 
give  a  somewhat  gloomy  appearance  to  the  scenery  of  its 
forests,  which,  however,  are  seldom  dense  assemblages  of 
countless  trees,  like  the  primeval  woods  of  our  continent 
and  America,  but  are  scattered  over  the  country  in  distinct 
clumps  and  patches,  giving  a  park-like  appearance  to  the 
landscape. 

Not  less  peculiar,  in  formation  and  character,  is  the 
zoology  of  Australia.  With  some  of  its  more  remarkable 
animals — as  the  emu  among  the  birds  and  the  kangaroo 
among  the  quadrupeds — most  of  my  readers  will  be  toler- 
ably familiar.  The  emu  is  the  Australian  ostrich — does 
not  fly,  but  runs  swiftly,  and  kicks  out  at  its  pursuers  like 
a  horse,  and  with  almost  equal  force. 

The  kangaroo  is  the  largest  native  quadruped,  and  has 


AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO.  173 

been  for  some  years  domesticated  in  English  parks  and 
zoological  collections.  There  are  three  or  four  varieties 
of  this  animal,  the  largest  of  which  (represented  in  the 
cut)  is  frequently  six  feet  in  height,  and  equal  in  weight 
to  a  calf.  Its  character  is  gentle  and  timid,  and,  in  many 
respects,  resembles  that  of  the  deer,  but  with  less  intelli- 
gence. It  feeds  on  all-fours,  but  at  other  times  stands 
erect  upon  its  hind  legs,  and  is  supported, also  by  its  long 
and  powerful  tail.  When  disturbed  or  pursued,  it  darts 
off  in  a  succession  of  flying  leaps,  which  give  a  herd  of 
them  a  most  ludicrous  appearance.  Its  short  fore  paws 
are  strong,  and  adapted  for  digging,  and  when  hard 
pressed  by  dog  or  man,  the  animal  has  been  known  to 
turn,  and  with  them  seize  its  enemy,  and  rip  him  up  with 
one  stroke  of  its  powerful  hind  leg,  which  is  armed  with 
two  sharp  claws  of  great  size  and  strength.  But  the  great 
peculiarity  of  this,  and  some  other  animals  of  Australia,  is 
the  abdominal  pouch,  to  which  its  young,  for  some  time 
after  they  can  walk,  constantly  return  on  the  approach  of 
danger ;  and  though  thus  burdened,  the  female  kangaroo 
will  leap  away  with  amazing  swiftness. 

Another  most  singular  creature  is  the  ornithoryncus,  or 
duck-billed  platypus,  an  animal  which,  to  the  thickly- 
furred^ody  and  burrowing  habits  of  the  mole,  unites  the 


174  AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO. 

feet  and  bill  of  a  duck,  and  the  internal  structure  of  a 
reptile.  It  is  extremely  shy,  so  that  its  habits  are  yet  but 
little  known,  and  naturalists  have  hardly  yet  determined 
whether  or  not  its  young  are  produced  from  eggs.  Had  a 
stuffed  specimen  of  this  singular  animal  been  first  pro- 
duced only  at  the  exhibition  of  some  travelling  showman 
of  doubtful  character,  it  would  probably  have  been  con- 
sidered as  fictitious  as  the  mermaid,  so  often  exhibited,  and 
which  was  formed  of  the  fore  part  of  a  monkey,  sewn  upon 
the  tail  of  a  shark. 

But  my  limits  are  already  exceeded ;  and  here,  for  this 
year  at  least,  must  end  our  Glimpses  of  the  Wonderful. 
The  title  is  a  modest  one,  so  also  are  the  claims  of  the 
writer  to  attention, — and  yet  deeply  suggestive,  and  such 
has  been  his  aim.  He  has  sought  rather  to  excite  inquiry 
than  to  communicate  knowledge. 

Wonders  are  all  around  us.  In  the  air  we  breathe — 
upon  the  earth  we  tread ;  they  glow  in  the  heavens  above 
us — they  pervade  each  atom  of  our  bodily  frame,  so 
"  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made."  And  if  to  the  immor- 
tal mind  of  any  young  and  ardent  inquirer,  thirsting  for 
knowledge,  this  little  volume  should,  in  any  degree,  bring 
home  a  quick  sense  of  the  ever-active,  ever-present  energy, 


AUSTRALIA,  AND  THE  KANGAROO. 


175 


which  ceaselessly  guides,  and  controls,  and  sustains  every 
movement  in  creation — if,  even  into  hours  of  amusement 
it  weaves  a  sweet,  yet  solemn  remembrance  of  the  ever- 
present  Deity,  as  our  Creator,  our  Preserver,  and  our  Re- 
deemer, it  will  not  have  been  written  in  vain ;  and  in  this 
hope  I  bid  my  young  readers  farewell. 


THE    END. 


' 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


MILKY 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


*1L 


- 


!i 


•UH 

Hn 
HI 


